The recently furnished codes for buildings to resist earthquakes will remain short of yielding desired results unless the required highly qualified workforce is not inducted in the local bodies at Tehsil level.
This view was expressed by stakeholders on building codes recently furnished by the National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak) and the ministry of housing and works. Not even a single person presently working in the local bodies/municipal committees is capable to ensure the compliance of buildings with the new building codes.
The ministry of housing and works along with Nespak and some other organisations took up the issue of furnishing building codes for different cities/areas so that earthquakes'' damages could be kept within the minimum damage limit. The devastating earthquake of October 2005 forced the government organisations to furnish the building codes that must be used by the builders in order to enable the buildings to resist earthquakes.
More than a dozen areas and cities located in the highest Seismic Zone while more than a 100 towns are in the second highest Zone, according to the study "Building Code of Pakistan- Seismic Provisions- 2007.
It had been known for decades that the geology of Pakistan made many parts of the country very vulnerable to the occurrence of the major earthquakes. We had carried out a number of project-specific seismic hazard studies. These included, amongst many others, Tarbela, Kalabagh, Diamer-Basha, Ghazi-Brotha projects and Bolan Medical Complex. All these studies clearly established the potential for severe earthquakes. But, the engineering science and technology are available to design and build facilities that can resist earthquakes.
Bagh, Hajira, Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pishin, Hurramzai, Karezat, Bostan, Noshki, Muslim Bagh, Ziarat, Sinjawi in Balochistan, Chitral and Balakot in NWFP are in the highest seismic Zone 4. But in these areas, the local bodies, which are responsible to implement the building bylaws, do not have the skilled forces to deal with different organisations in public and private sectors to persuade the latter comply with building codes.
Most of the areas/cities in Balochistan are in the second highest seismic zone. Quetta, Panjpai, Barshore, Killa Abdullah, Gulistan, Chaman, Dobandi, Loralai, Mekhtar, Duki, Barkhan, Musakhel, Kingri, Killa Saifullah, Loiband, Baddini, Zhob, Sambaza, Sherani, Sibi, Kutmandai, Sangan, Lehri, Harnai, Kohlu, Kahan, Mawand, Dera Bugti, Sangsillah, Sui, Loti, Phelawagh, Malam, Baiker, Pir Koh, Nasirabad, Tamboo, Bolan, Dhadar, Bagh, Balanari, Sani, Khattan, Mach, Kalat, Mangochar, Joahan, Gazg, Mastung, Kirdgap, Dasht, Khad Koocha, Nal, Ornach, Mashki, Jhaljao, Kharan, Dasht, Pasni and Ormara.
Keeping this in view, the government will be required to induct the required workforce in the local bodies. This is essential for the implementation of the new building codes. Some of the stakeholders are of the view that building codes should be discussed at length with the local bodies'' representatives across the country. Other stakeholders including the Planning Commission are of the view the new building codes lacks the mechanism for effective implementation.