In the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, the local construction industry is running at its full swing from the last few years. As we approach towards the towns, cities or any commercial centres from our homes we see the competition in construction of big and multi-storeyed framed and massive walled load bearing buildings. Such huge investments in construction requires proper consultation of the professional engineers/consultants for long term resilience and safety against the losses and failures from all types of natural as well man-made hazards like Floods, earthquakes, fires, blasts, vibrations etc.
The technical guidance or recommendations involves the planning, surveying, ground investigation/exploration and suitable economical design of the different components of the structure with the use of advanced techniques, codes, procedures and softwares. Apart from engineering advancements the preservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance is high important.
The non-engineered intervention of the humans in nature like self-styled concretization of green vegetation areas, widespread ground water contamination, excessive extraction and dredging of water bodies, cutting down of trees and natural hill slopes for road construction are becoming the triggering factors for some Hazards.
The Sept.2014 Floods and Oct.2005 earthquake in the valley are the very recent tragic incidents that might have clicked us to understand the importance of following the already approved technical guidelines for construction projects or any other infrastructure. This write up is the general scenario of the construction trend in the UT of J&K.
(The Author is Research Scholar, NIT Srinagar. Email: [email protected])
