A Case Study in Uttarakhand, Northern India - Geological & Mining ...

Reponses for what features masons themselves consider to be most importantvary. Eight-eight percent of trained masons consider column to be the mostimportant, fifty-three list band and thirty-seven list beam. Conversely, only elevenpercent of untrained masons list column and beam and eight percent list band.Although it is simply a construction material and not an earthquake-safe feature perse, twenty-eight percent of untrained masons consider RCC to be important. Itshould also be noted that thirty-three percent of untrained masons claimed to haveno idea as to what features were most important.3.1.1e Building trends/retrofittingBoth regions appear to be following fashionable building trends including the use ofRCC roofs, bricks and frame structures. Masons in Study Area A suggest that afterthe Uttarkashi and Chamoli earthquakes a large number of constructions were, andhave continued to be built with modern materials, RCC (reinforced concrete),bricks, etc. Despite this shift in building trends seventy-seven percent of trainedmasons indicate that earthquake-safe houses can be built with traditional materials(stone, mud, wood) and that retrofitting of buildings is possible. While seventy-fivepercent of untrained masons agree that earthquake-safe constructions are possiblewith traditional materials only fourteen percent believe that retrofitting of building ispossible. Eighty-three percent declared that retrofitting is not possible at all. Again,retrofitting is a component of the workshop pedagogy and supports the suppositionthat trainees are retaining the information provided in the training courses.It has been noted that although the technical knowledge for retrofitting exists withinIndia, the actual implementation of such practices is not yet up to par (Paul, 2004).One of the ways this could be facilitated in through the development of more rigidpublic policy and stricter enforcement of building codes. Information has beenprovided by agencies such as the Indian Bureau of standards on good engineeringpractices but are not mandatory. Therefore, it is the perceptions of the homeowneror builder that will ultimately determine how closely these recommendations areadhered to. While a number of government organizations are opting to adopt theseThe Role of NGOs in Disaster Mitigation and Response – A Case Study in Uttarakhand, Northern India 46