Officials of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and engineers of Orissa Development Technocrat Forum train masons on earthquake resistant building technologies. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, May 25: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has trained 30 masons to build earthquake resistant structures.

They have been taught technologies to build earthquake resistant and safe buildings as the capital is categorised under the Zone III seismic region (moderate damage risk zone).

The three-day training programme, which concluded today, also imparted training on the selection of appropriate sites so that buildings suffer minimum damage in the event of an earthquake.

Two engineers of the Orissa Development Technocrat Forum (ODTF) trained the masons in the laying of a sturdy foundation, plinth, window shield, lintel and roof — the five basic components involved in construction of a house.

“Even in an urban set-up like Bhubaneswar we have seen only 20 per cent of the people constructing homes consulting an engineer or architect for the building plan. The remaining 80 per cent are still dependant on suggestions of their local masons.

“So, we thought that the masons should be educated first on earthquake resistant building technology,” said Debendra Kumar Subuddhi, engineer, ODTF.

Rabi Rout, a mason undergoing training at the camp, said: “The engineers taught us basic things such as asking house owners to go for column-based structures as they are stronger alternatives than their load-based counterparts. The column-based structures use cement pillars, hence they are stronger and provide a more resistant frame to the house.”

Basant Kumar Nayak, another mason at the training camp, said: “The engineers told us how to go about strengthening the corner structures near the windows and doors from where the cracks usually develop during earthquakes.

“They taught us how to use iron clips and plates and extra rods to make the common structures more resilient to calamities. Safe building practices can help people survive from natural disasters better.’’

BMC slum improvement officer, Dillip Kumar Routrai, said: “The mason training programme is a step forward for better preparedness of a society to face any natural disaster.

“The BMC has already received a UN citation for creating a community awareness on disaster preparedness.”