Aug. 24: City-based consulting engineer Jyotirindra Narayan Khataniar feels that construction process in a city cannot be advised to stop for an indefinite period.
Khataniar today told The Telegraph that the city should be allowed to grow further, but slowly, till improvement of drainage and sewerage system, attainment of sufficiency of potable water and electricity according to the demand is available.
“Construction of the major high-rise building complex having above ground plus six floors should be restricted till the time of availability of sufficient electricity and development of proper water supply arrangement along with improvement of carrying capacity of the roads and drainage networks within the city. Small and medium construction projects should be encouraged instead of big projects, as a solution to the present crisis,” Khataniar said.
Khataniar’s observations have come following Guwahati development department’s decision to stop receiving fresh applications to build houses from June 11 onwards, for an indefinite period.
However, it was decided on July 25 that permission might be given up to G+2 floors for residential buildings.
His emphasis on sufficiency of electricity and proper water supply arrangement was voiced, as he observed the city does not have common sewage system and the Assam State Electricity Board’s (ASEB) acute power shortage.
“ASEB is in a position to supply only about 20 per cent of the total demand in peak hours,” he said.
Khataniar said the introduction of the bylaw-2006, admitted loopholes in the bylaw-1998.
So, to prevent loopholes in the present bylaw, which is being prepared, there should be a long-term vision taking into account all the actual ground realities.
The current building bylaws-2006 is under revision and the new bylaw shall be based on the carrying capacity of a particular area according to a report prepared by Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT).
The carrying capacity of a particular area represents basically the “road-carrying capacity, infrastructure availability and land suitability” of that area.
“Before the CEPT study, no proper research was carried out on the carrying capacity of the drainage networks along with the reducing water-carrying capacity of the city’s wetland areas. As of now, no scientific study has been carried out on feasibility of common sewerage disposal system, availability of underground water for domestic uses and ASEB’s electrical load carrying capacity as against city’s demand, which should be done in proper way,” he said.
Khataniar said the revised 2006 building bylaws was an improved version of 1998 bylaws, which gives a lot of importance to the structural safety aspects of the buildings, based on recommendations of National Building Code, 2005, and National Disaster Management Division under the ministry of home affairs.
Besides, the bylaws-2006 give importance to the construction rules and regulations related to the construction of single-storied buildings to the high-rise buildings.
This includes apartments, commercial complexes, and other type of public buildings along with certificates from the consultants, structural engineers and builders or owners of the property.
Khataniar said as the city does not have common sewerage disposal system, there should be a study to explore the feasibility of building one.
He added that evaluation of the quantity of groundwater available in the entire city with respect to the present demand and demands for the future expansion needs to be studied carefully for preparation of necessary water supply schemes.
He suggested liasing with the ASEB to solve the problem of power scarcity in the city.
