AFTER SIKKIM EARTHQUAKE: More than 10 Buildings to be demolished in Gangtok

GANGTOK, 26 Sept: A total of 10-12 buildings in Gangtok and Singtam have been identified for demolishing. While a huge percentage of buildings have been substantially damaged by the earthquake of 18 September, there are some which are not habitable, and furthermore, pose a threat to neighbouring buildings. All such buildings had been ordered to be evacuated by the district administration earlier and now, after an inspection the DC [East], D Anandan, has issued notices to the owners of 10 buildings in East District that their structures should be demolished.
As per the notice issued by the DC, East the buildings have to be demolished within three days.
Mr. Anandan informs that these buildings have to be demolished by the owners themselves at their own cost. The onus of dismantling the buildings lies with the owners. However, should the owners of the listed buildings fail to dismantle their structures within the given timeframe, the district administration will take further action.
The decision for issuing notices for dismantlement was taken after the submission of the inspection report which recommended such demolishment. The inspection is being conducted by a technical team comprising of UD&HD engineers along with two members from IIT Roorkee - Structural Engineer Emra and Seismologist Prof ML Sharma; the team also includes Assistant Geologist from Mines & Geology Department, KK Luitel.
It was informed that the team has inspected 406 buildings in and around Gangtok thus far.
Of the inspected 406 buildings, 70 [including those neighbouring the buildings marked for demolishment] have been evacuated and have been recommended for retrofitting and repairs

Chaotic highrise skyline of Gangtok rings Warning bells

In dapper Dev Anand's 1967 suspense thriller Jewel Thief, the second half of which was shot in the sylvan Sikkim eight years before its integration with India, hardly any highrises blotted the cinemascope experience. Those were the days when spiralling concrete structures were unheard of at hill stations, which were characterised by only wooden/ asbestos roofs and cemented walls.

But the past decade has drastically changed the plot, and concrete buildings shooting up the sky now form the rather chaotic skyline of the erstwhile scenic Gangtok and Darjeeling hills, where structures climbing up seven or eight storeys have become quite the norm. Making the situation more worrisome is the fact that most of this 'development' is illegal.

The residents of Gangtok woke up to the perils of this grave activity after last Sunday's powerful earthquake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, which has so far claimed at least 75 lives and rendered thousands homeless.

According to experts, Sikkim falls under the highly vulnerable Seismic Zone-IV of India's earthquake hazard map and the risk factor for the residents of this "high-damage risk zone" gets doubled with the coming up of illegal highrises constructed with sub-standard material.

Collapse of Dzongu House with another building in Gangtok

The mushrooming of illegal buildings in the Sikkim capital points a finger at the ineptitude of the state government, which has conveniently been ignoring the need for a watchdog to monitor this building boom which doesn't follow even basic guidelines for countering the quake threat.

"We are dealing with the issue of earthquake disaster. We will address the issue of highrises and necessary building norms in Gangtok later," Sikkim chief secretary Karma Gyatso said.

While the occurrence of earthquakes cannot be wished away, the loss of life and the extent of collateral damage can always be mitigated with scientific moves in terms of developing civic infrastructure, the experts maintain. "The entire seismic-active region in Sikkim needs to undergo a thorough survey for it to survive a similar disaster in the future," a Sikkim government official said.

Seismic activity along the Himalayan arc takes place following the thrusting action of the Indian plate beneath the Eurasian plate. As the Indian plate converges with Eurasia at a rate of about 46 mm/ year towards the north- northeast, this has led to the uplift of the mountainous Himalayan range.

More than 80 per cent of all the buildings in Sikkim have developed severe cracks following the quake.

Two highrises have already collapsed in Gangtok amid the heavy rain on Friday, injuring at least four persons.

Reasons to be worried

•Illegal highrises violating earthquake resistance mechanism
•All buildings have come up in close proximity, with hardly any space in between
•Unplanned urban growth
•No monitoring mechanism by authorities

Five-storey house goes down

Gangtok, Sept. 24: A five-storey house belonging to Bhaichung Bhutia’s mentor and state sports secretary Karma P. Bhutia collapsed tonight after an adjoining six-storey building tilted and fell against it, injuring eight persons.

The incident occurred two days after The Telegraph reported how building norms were being flouted in a mountainous terrain that is under seismic zone IV, the second most vulnerable area in the country according to the India Meteorological Department that had drawn up the classification. In Gangtok, the height of buildings is restricted to five storeys.

Around 6.15pm, the six-storied building of the late Sonam Choda Lepcha, a minister in the Nar Bahadur Bhandari government, suddenly tilted and hit Karma’s house in the Baluakhani area of town. Karma’s house, a concrete structure, then came down as a pack of cards.

All but the two top floors of the building can be seen resting but that also in a tilted position at the road level. The floors below have been totally destroyed, police said.

Karma’s house had an ATM kiosk on the first floor which also had the office of Bhaichung’s United Sikkim Football Club. A club official present at the spot said the office was completely buried under rubble and all the cups and trophies were inside. “We are yet to assess the damage,” he said.

Bhutia’s driver in STNM

“Karma and his daughter, Rinzing were watching television while two carpenters were working when suddenly he saw the adjoining building begin to sway and start tilting to its left. Both of them managed to come out just in time. But two carpenters were trapped as was Bhutia’s driver,” the club official said. He said the late minister’s house had tilted after Sunday’s quake. Local people said yesterday’s tremor at 10.20pm followed by rain this evening must have done the final damage.

According to M.S. Tuli, the police superintendent of East Sikkim, seven persons, four from Sonam’s house and the same number from Karma’s house have been rescued. All those rescued from Karma’s house — his driver Sonam Bhutia, tenant O.P. Chhetri, and two carpenters from Jalpaiguri, Sujit Sarkar and Prasanta Sarkar — were admitted to the STNM Hospital.

Sonam’s family members had vacated the building after Sunday’s quake.

K.B. Guring, an assistant medical officer at the STNM Hospital, said all three had suffered head injuries but they “were stable.”

“The area has been cordoned off and rescue operations were carried out by the army, the fire brigade, the police and personnel of the civil defence. The rescue operations are over,” Tuli said. He said two vehicles parked between the two buildings were badly damaged.

Pradip Chhetri, a tenant in Sonam’s house, said when the building started tilting, he thought it was another earthquake. “It was raining heavily and I suddenly felt the house tilt to its left side and crash against the one next door. I managed to use ropes to clamber down on to the street,” Pradip said.

(The Telegraph)

VISUALS: Trapped inmates rescued from Collapsed Gangtok Buildings near Vajra Cinema Hall

Two buildings collapse in Gangtok

GANGTOK, 24 Sept: Following the massive earthquake of 18 September which has damaged thousands of buildings statewide, it was only a matter of time before news poured in of collapsing buildings. Late this evening, a five-storied building belonging to the Secretary, Sports & Youth Affairs Department, near the Vajra Cinema hall on the North Sikkim Highway collapsed trapping three people inside. Miraculously, all three survived after rescue personnel comprising of civilians, the army and NDRF pulled them out of the debris in time. Only the top two floors could be seen above the road while the other 3 stories had sunk.

Trapped in the collapsed building were a driver, a carpenter and his helper. They were trapped in the lower stories which had sunk. After about half an hour of rescue efforts, they were evacuated and rushed to the hospital in a waiting ambulance.
The building also housed the offices of the United Sikkim Football Club a team of which was due to leave for Kolkata tomorrow and an ATM of Axis Bank. The building behind upon which the building has collapsed, houses a school which is also now precariously positioned.
Fortunately no one was in the building at the time of the collapse, the structure having been evacuated earlier.
But that is not the only building which has collapsed or damaged. The five storied building is believed to have collapsed after the building standing adjacent to it, belonging to former minister, Sonam Choda Lepcha, sank, taking the other building along with it.
A couple of vehicles were also damaged when the ground on which they were parked, in front of the building, also sunk with the structure. One of the vehicles was totally crushed.
The building before Sonam Choda Lepcha’s building has also tilted slightly and is also on the verge of collapse.
Fortunately these buildings had been evacuated. In fact the building belonging to the late Minister had a guest house of a central government agency which had been evacuated on yesterday, on 22 September.
While no one was killed or seriously injured in this mishap, it has brought a renewed anxiety and nervousness among the people. In fact many are now sleeping outdoors inspite of the rain. It has also awakened the state administration to the possibility of having to examine and verify the safety of buildings in the state.
(NowDailY)