Earthquake is not alien to the human civilization. Throughout the world and on each year the occurrence of earthquake is quite natural. It happens to be the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves and are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph. For that reason many regions in the planet like the entire Dhauladhar Range in Himachal Pradesh (India) are regarded as sensitive earthquake-prone regions where devastations can take place at any moment.
However, in the present age lots of scientific measures to protect and prepare possible sites of earthquakes from severe damages have come to the fore. These include Earthquake engineering, Earthquake preparedness, Household seismic safety, Seismic retrofit (including special fasteners, materials, and techniques), Seismic hazard, Mitigation of seismic motion, and Earthquake prediction. But there are some prerequisites and the control in the construction of buildings happens to be one of them.
What is going on in Dhauladhar Range therefore? On the contrary, the whole area has become marked for random and unplanned buildings along with unrestrained residential constructions. Lots of studies have been made and each one of them has concluded that in past five years the Kangra district, particularly Palampur and Dharmshala towns, have turned into a huge concrete jungle. Isn’t the government aware?
Well, the government of Himachal Pradesh can’t be blamed. It, witnessing the gruesome consequences of devastating earthquake in Gujarat in 2001, introduced Town and Country Planning Act and tried utmost to standardize the construction activities in this region. What’s more, the government brought all important towns of Kangra district within the purview of the said act. But that has failed to dissuade the spirits of developers and homeowners and construction of buildings is unabated.
Nowadays one can find hundreds of construction activities, of buildings including residential houses and multi storied complexes in the district. Even the same region has become famous for commercial activities and several hotels and shopping malls with multi-storeyed structures have been built while many are in the offing.
What may be the consequence? The entire scenario is enticing another earthquake and devastations may happen at any moment.
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