8/12/2019 TOI 21May2007 - Reclaimed City Requires Strong Safeguards

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TIMESCITY** THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI

MONDAY, MAY 21, 20074

Fully booked

Book launches are not lit-erary events, but areshaped instead by the authorssocial or business circuit.Thusat Ramachandra Guhas IndiaAfter Gandhi at the BritishCouncil, it was a march ofMumbais post-Gandhians, in-tellectuals, liberalsfrom Jer-ry Rao and Satish Sahney toHarsha Bhogle and Daryl D-Monte. Before that, when theserene and many-talented Im-tiaz Dharker (and daughter

Ayesha) read from her Ter-rorist at My Table,all the usu-al suspects of Mumbais liter-ate glitterati thronged the TajsGolden Room.

The action moved to thesame hotels massive Ballroomlast Thursday, when corporateoak R Gopalakrishnanlaunched his The Case of theBonsai Manager.The pillaredhall was packed to its pricelesschandeliers with Tata topbrass, and some tacks. Actu-ally there were so many board-room heavies that you mighthave mistaken it for the Indi-

an contingent at Davos.Hacks of a certain stripe

consider it de rigeur to attendsuch events, and were seen atall three of these recentlaunches.

The vivacious GitaGopalakrishnan wore a stolepainted with the birds andbees. This was because herhusbands book is aboutLessons from Nature AboutGrowing. His presentation,however, went beyond Discov-ery Channel clips of Olive Ri-dley Turtles to Marquez, Ko-rean proverbs,Walt Whitman,A rc him ed es, N at ha nie lHawthorne, Leela Chitnisand Sourav Ganguly and Nu-tan, separately of course.

Deepak Parekh, while in-troducing the book, provideda delightful anecdote on theethical Manager. When HDFCdecided to write an Ethicsmanual for newcomers, it grewso formidable in size and con-tent that no one would haveventured beyond the secondpage. So they scrapped it com-pletely, and replaced it with aone-sentence mantra: Dontdo anything today that youdbe ashamed of if it becamepublic tomorrow.

Minimum Sense

One often wonders forwhose benefit all the mas-sive public works in the city arebeing executed.Rarely are thefacilities put to their intendeduse. A good example is 33rdRoad in Bandra (West), wherethe BMC recently took up road-widening. The illegal fruit-and-vegetable market operating onthe margins of the road hasbeen razed several times in thelast few years.But it makes nodifference.The vendors rebuildas soon as the BMC workershave departed.Plumbers, elec-

tricians and raddiwallas alsooccupy prime spots along theroad,which is notorious for theillegal stalls on the stretch be-

tween the 14th and 15th Roads.The most annoying fallout ofthe recent demolitions is thatafter the road-widening, theBMC also built spanking newfootpaths on both sides of theroad. Where once filthy road-sides or open gutters existedare shiny, maroon-and-yellow-tiled walkways.However, morefool you if you think the newsidewalk has benefited pedes-trians in any way. The illegalmarket is back, and the stallshave been built just behind thefootpath. So now the vendorshave a tiled walkway alongwhich their customers can hap-pily browse and pick andchoose their mangoes andpumpkins for the day.Furtherdown,a popular restaurant haseven erected a canopy over thefootpath, almost as if it werebuilt for the eaterys personaluse.Maximum city, minimumcivic sense.

Flood Alert

Its nothing short of a mira-cle that a brand old drain hasbeen discovered under thelength of Tulsi Pipe Road.Buta single drain does not a del-uge devour.So be a vigilant cit-izen and tell the BMC about

chronic flooding spots in thecity. And no, you dont have totrek to the local ward office andyou dont even have to bravean ALM or AGNI meeting. Allyou have to do is go to the in-

ternet and click on the SATYAform at http://www.kar-mayog.org (accessible from the

home page or directly athttp://www.karmayog.org/complaints/index.aspx). Thecivic soldiers at Karmayog willco-ordinate with the DisasterCell of BMC.Even if you dontcare about the city at large, cer-tainly you care about your ownbackyard? So,whether its un-cleared garbage,uncleared de-bris, choked storm waterdrains, incomplete or shoddywork, or paver blocks thatcaved, file your complaint be-fore the clouds show up. Oth-erwise, hold your peace whenyour road turns into a river.

Garden Party

In its drive to become a world-class museum,the Chhatra-pati Shivaji Maharaj VaastuSangrahalaya (formerly thePrince of Wales museum) isleaving no stone unturned.Wewant the museum to become animportant cultural centre in thecity, and we hope to encouragecitizens to see it as their ownand to help us maintain it, saysthe museums new director,Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

What the museum needs ismore interactive sessions withthe public and the first event onits calendar is to be a poetry-

and-visuals event on May 28,when well-known poet IqbalPatni will read from his poemsto a backdrop of projected im-ages from the museums 18thcentury Ragmala Deccanipaintings. The event, titledTasveer ki awaaz, since theragmala paintings are inspiredby different Ragas or musicalmodes,is open to the public andwill take place in the museumgardens at 7.15 pm.Entry is free.

(Contributed by BachiKarkaria,Noel Figueiredo,Nina Martyris and AnjaliJoseph. Compiled by Nina

Martyris).

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: Highrises sculpt a new horizon in humble central Mumbai

Bombay DreamsThe City by the Sea has hadmany of her poets write herverse. Heres a latest tributefrom the pen of ImtiazDharker whose collectionTerrorist at my Table wasrecently released:

Bombay, Mumbai

You wear two namesLike scaffolding, your smileheld onWith bamboo sticks andsellotapeAnd string.

Salt swoops in on a sea-windAnd eats you bite by bite,Making sounds like seagulls.Paint, plaster, brick,Your lovely polished skinGive in, peels and cracks,But you fight back,I am like that only,You say, and toss your head.

White ants turnYour soul to diamond dust,Flood water slapsAt your glossy mouth, andyouSmile back. You leaveDoor open.Absolution slides through thewalls

Of your heart.

You fall apartYou make yourself again,And shrug, I am like that only.

Which other city hands outTwo different calling cards

One with the left hand,The other with the right?

Hoshi Jal

CITY LIGHTS

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai lies in the seismicallyprone Zone 3, but most devel-

opers and architects vouch forthe earthquake-resistance of their struc-tures. Builders do not want to takechances and many of them design build-ings keeping an earthquake of higher in-tensity in mind, said architect HafeezContractor.

As per the seismic map, Mumbai canbe struck by a temblor measuring 6 to 6.5on the Richter scale; it is also close toZone 4 which can see higher intensityquakes. Safeguards to protect Mumbaiin the event of such disasters are pro-vided by agencies which prescribe normsfor quake-resistant designs.

The Bureau of Indian Standards, forinstance, and the National Building Codehave set standards for designing earth-

quake-resistant buildings depending onsoil and other conditions. In addition,the BMC has made it mandatory thatstructural consultants certify that abuilding is earthquake-proof.

In case of tall towers,theres even aspecial panel to monitor that all stan-dards are met. In fact highrises are morecarefully designed to withstand windloads and earthquakes than four to sixstoreyed buildings, said Hafeez Con-tractor.

Apart from the design of a building,the detailing and construction play animportant role in the structures ca-pacity to withstand earthquakes.Most

buildings in the city have this feature,said Satish Dhupelia,a member of thecommittee which has to scrutinise build-ings above 70 metres in height, i.e over20 storeys. Dhupelia cites the exampleof the Latur, Koyna and Bhuj earth-quakes, during which Mumbai with-stood the tremors without any disas-trous effect.

However, Professor Ravi Sinha fromIIT Powais Civil Engineering Depart-ment said one cannot be certain aboutthe extent of compliance with earth-quake-resistance norms in Mumbai.Cost is not a issue. These measureswould merely raise construction cost bya marginal 2% to 5% but sometimes badengineering is the problem, he said.

Reclaimed city needs strongsafeguards against quakes

Mumbais Sands And Swamps Make It More Vulnerable

Towers have quake-resistant tagON FIRMGROUND

Highrises are more

carefully designed towithstand wind loads andearthquakes than four tosix-storeyed buildingsH

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The Union Home Ministry recent-ly promulgated an order making

it mandatory for all new build-ings, especially in cities, to be built on

earthquake-resistant designs. Existing

buildings will also have to be adequate-ly strengthened (retrofitted) for seis-mic safety. This is because about 60% of

Indias area falls in the seismic zones 3,4 and 5 where earthquakes of magni-

tudes from 6.0 to about 8.0 are possible.Mumbai, in zone 3, can see a moder-

ately strong earthquake that can dam-age buildings, specially the poorly con-

structed ones, and therefore needsearthquake-resistant construction. The

need for such measures cannot beoveremphasised because a substantial

part of the city is on land reclaimedfrom the sea.

With earthquake-prediction not yet aviable proposition, making our

dwellings safe enough offers the onlycourse for survival. People lose their

lives in large numbers during earth-quakes only due to the collapse of build-

ings, the falling debris trapping thosewho flee in panic.

Mumbai begs to be given some specialconsiderations for its moist beach

sands, swamps, areas reclaimed from

below the sea, and salt-pans which are

also proposed to be reclaimed soon. Thewet sands of Mumbai have the ability to

transmit earthquake vibrations veryfast and so are not suitable for earth-

quake-resistant construction. Inswamps and marshy tracts, the soil isweakened by constant submergence un-

der water and will haveto be strengthened con-

siderably if such spe-cial-types of buildings

have to be built.In areas like Bandra

where several phasesof reclamation have

taken place, it is neces-sary to allow sufficient

time for the reclaimedland to attain requisite

degree of compactionto support any con-

struction.Here again, the earth used inreclamation remains wet and will con-

duct earthquake waves fast.In Mumbai, hard rock is available

only at a considerable depth and so thefoundations of a structure will have to

be very deep, making constructionmore expensive. Earthquake-resistant

construction of tall highrise buildingsgoing upto 45 floors is admittedly diffi-

cult and recent research in the US has

shown that their seismic safety cannot

be guaranteed. Therefore, buildings ofreasonable heights, upto 70 metres or

so, may have a better chance to survivein Mumbai.

Apart from these aspects, geologicaldata also needs to be taken into account

and that includes Mumbais proximityto earthquake-generat-

ing active faults. Eventhe best of earthquake-resistant buildings are

liable to fail if con-structed right on such a

fault or close to it. Inthis context, it may be

mentioned that a longfault grazing past the

eastern slopes of theMalabar-Cumballa-Wor-

li Hills was reported bygeologists and engi-

neers some three decades ago. Thereare three other faults along the three

creeks around Mumbai. Incidentally, allthats been discussed will be valid for

Navi Mumbai too which happens to be alot more active seismically. Four minor

tremors that have taken place since 1998have occurred near Navi Mumbai.

(The writer is former professor of Ge-

ology,IIT Bombay)

The wet sands ofMumbai have theability to transmitquake vibrationsvery fast and so arenot entirely suitablefor earthquake-resistantconstruction

Bhagvan Das

Mumbai:Television actress and so-cial activist KunikaLall has filed an in-tervening applica-tion before the Bom-bay high court (HC)in a PIL filed by ac-tivist Shailesh Gand-hi regarding cor-ruption in the im-plementation of var-ious slum rehabili-

tation schemes.Alleging gross illegality and

fraud in the destruction of im-portant records in a fire that brokeout in the Slum Rehabilitation Au-

thoritys (SRA) office in suburbanBandra early this month, Lall has

sought a central agency probe intothe incident.

She has highlighted certain factsbased on media reports claimingthat before the fire, some workerswere advisedby their colleaguesnot to go to the office on the day ofthe fire.

The actress has also sought aninquiry into the discussions at aclosed-door meeting between chiefminister Vilasrao Deshmukh, mu-nicipal commissioner and SRAschief executive officer, regardingthe HCs recent orders on corrup-tion in SRA.

The matter will come up forhearing before the court after va-cation.AGENCIES

Kunika Lall

SEEKS CENTRALAGENCY PROBE

Tuhin

TV star allegesfoul play in SRA

office fire

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2056 2007