In the recent past, we have witnessed several devastating earthquakes in different parts of the world, including a few developing countries as well as some developed countries. The 7.9 magnitude Sichuan earthquake in Southwest China on 12th May 2008 resulted in more than 5 million people becoming homeless and it became a grim reminder of the devastating Tangshan earthquake of 1976 in northeastern China which killed over 300,000 people and destroyed several million houses. The Sichuan earthquake, seen as China's worst earthquake in more than 30 years, claimed 69,195 lives and caused injury to 374,176 people, with 18, 389 people reported as missing. In Pakistan, the Muzaflarabad earthquake of 8th October 2005 killed more than 88,000 people, including several thousand school children who lost their lives due to the collapse of school buildings. Even in India, several earthquakes have occurred in the recent past, which resulted in death and injury to large number of people due to the collapse of buildings, apart from the crippling impact of economic losses caused by the damage to property, assets and infrastructure. We have often heard this statement: "Earthquakes don't kill; the collapse of buildings do." In the developing countries, weak compliance of building codes and town planning byelaws and inadequate attention to enforcement and regulation are contributing to the loss of lives, injuries and loss of property when earthquakes strike. In the developed world, even a high intensity earthquake causes minimal loss of lives and property as the construction of buildings, public infrastructure and amenities in these countries is governed by strict regulations which ensure public safety. Thus, a high intensity earthquake in the United States of America or Japan may not lead to the loss of lives of a large number of people because the compliance with a rigorous techno-legal regime will ensure that few buildings will collapse resulting in low loss of lives. Even in the developing countries, recent earthquakes have shown that while the buildings constructed in strict compliance with earthquake-resistant building codes and other safety regulations have been able to withstand the impact of the earthquakes, poorly constructed buildings in the same neighbourhood have collapsed resulting in loss of lives and destruction of property and assets. The Muzaflarabad earthquake in Pakistan and the Sichuan earthquake in China have reiterated the critical need to comply with earthquake-resistant building codes and other safety regulations in earthquake-prone areas. One of the most important lessons from these earthquakes is the critical imperative of ensuring the structural integrity of public assets like schools and hospitals and private assets like houses, commercial buildings, etc. to withstand the intensity of devastating earthquakes. Thus, the proactive action of all stakeholders will minimize the loss of lives and damage to assets and infrastructure in earthquake-prone areas and we need to create greater public awareness on the earthquake risk and vulnerability in India. Earthquake Risk and Vulnerability in India India's high seismic risk and vulnerability is evident from the fact that 10.9% of it's geographical area falls in the seismic zone V which is vulnerable to very high seismic risk, while 17.3% of it's geographical area falls in seismic zone IV vulnerable to high seismic risk. According to the Vulnerability Atlas of India prepared by the Building Materials Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC), 229 districts of India fall within seismic zones IV and V. This Vulnerability Atlas has been prepared based on the past trends of earthquakes in the country and efforts are now under way to prepare a probabilistic seismic hazard map for India, with the help of seismic experts and scientific institutions, to more realistically reflect the seismic risk and vulnerability profile of the country. The recorded history of earthquakes in India indicate that India has faced four very high intensity earthquakes of magnitude 8.0 or higher since 1890. The relatively low damage and devastation caused by these high intensity earthquakes faced by India in Shillong in 1897 (M 8.7), Kangra in 1905(M 8.0), Bihar-Nepal in 1934 (M 8.3) and Assam-Tibet in 1950 (M 8.6) was largely because of the types of construction and building materials used in such places. It is estimated that the occurrence of such a very high intensity earthquake now in any of the highly densely populated regions would result in very high loss of lives and injuries to large numbers of people, beyond the coping capacity of the emergency medical services facilities and personnel in these areas. With the rapid spread of urbanisation and economic development, trends in housing construction in most urban, suburban and rural areas indicate sudden increases in reinforced cement concrete (RCC) construction. In the areas of high seismic risk, these result in collapse of or damage to such structures thereby causing loss of lives and cause injury to people. Some of the major earthquakes faced by India in the last two decades include the earthquakes in Uttarkashi, 1991; Latur, 1993; Jabalpur, 1997; Chamoli, 1999; Gujarat, 2001; Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 2004; and Jammu & Kashmir, 2005. In all these earthquakes, large numbers of people lost their lives or were injured, apart from causing enormous losses due to the damage and destruction of houses, public buildings, infrastructure and amenities. The Paradigm Shift in Disaster Management in India The high disaster risk and vulnerability of communities in India which are living in regions prone to earthquakes, floods, landslides and other natural disasters and man-made disasters invariably result in several million people getting affected by disasters in India every year. In recurring disasters like floods, we have had instances of over 2.87 crores of people affected by floods in Bihar in 1987 and 2.13 crores of people affected by floods in 2004, resulting in damage and destruction of houses, cropped areas, public assets and amenities. The Bhuj earthquake in 2001 resulted in the loss of life of over 10,000 people and caused injury to over 1.5 lakhs of people. It is estimated that on an average, more than 4,400 lives are lost and several lakhs of houses are damaged and destroyed annually due to natural disasters in India. In the 12th Finance Commission period during 2005 to 2010, an allocation of Rs. 21,333 Crores was earmarked for calamity relief and post-disaster reconstruction. However, the need to ensure that the assets, infrastructure and public amenities in disaster-prone areas are constructed to withstand the multi-hazard vulnerabilities in the specific regions as followed by most of the developed nations would help in creating assets, infrastructure and public amenities which will not get damaged even if disasters strike in such regions. In the Eleventh Five Year Plan period (2008-2012), special efforts have been made, with the help of the Planning Commission, to mainstream disaster management in development planning initiatives of the Ministries and Departments of the Government of India and State Governments. After the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26th December 2004, the Government of India took a path-breaking decision to review the institutional mechanisms for disaster management in India at the national, state and district levels and introduced the Disaster Management Bill which was passed by both houses of Parliament and received the assent of the President of India on 23rd December 2005. The Disaster Management Act 2005 laid the ground for the establishment of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chaired by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India as he apex body for disaster management in India at the national level, State Disaster Management Authorities at the State level under the respective State Chief Ministers and District Disaster Management Authorities chaired by the District Collectors and co-chaired by the elected representative of the Zilla Parishads at the district level. The National Vision for Disaster Management The Disaster Management Act 2005 envisages a paradigm shift from the erstwhile relief-centric response to a proactive prevention, mitigation and preparedness-driven approach, so as to conserve the developmental gains and also minimize losses to lives, livelihoods and property. The National Vision for disaster management is to build a saferand disaster-resilient India by developing a holistic, proactive, multi-hazard and technology-driven strategy. This will be achieved through a culture of prevention, mitigation and preparedness to generate a prompt and efficient response at the time of disasters. The entire process will centre-stage the community and will be provided momentum and sustenance through the collective efforts of all Government agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The Disaster Management Act 2005 has not only created the institutional mechanisms like Disaster Management Authorities at the national, state and district levels, but also provided the foundation for a sound financial management strategy through the provisions for the establishment of Disaster Response Funds at the national, state and district levels as well as Disaster Mitigation Funds at the national, state and district levels, which are being considered by the Thirteenth Finance Commission. The Disaster Management Act 2005 also stipulated the establishment of a dedicated agency called the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) consisting of personnel from the four para military forces (BSF, CISF, CRPF and ITBP) for assisting the district administrations and state governments in various aspects of disaster management like community preparedness, capacity building, mitigation efforts and emergency response. Eight battalions of the NDRF have been deployed in various strategic locations of the country and they have been trained and equipped to respond to natural disasters and man-made disasters, including Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Emergencies. The Disaster Management Act 2005 also laid the foundation for the setting up of the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) as the nodal training institute in the country, coordinating the capacity building of various stakeholders in the field of disaster management through several state level training institutes. NDMA's Earthquake Management Guidelines The mandate of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), as specified in the Disaster Management Act 2005, inter alia, has stipulated that NDMA can draw up the Guidelines for the effective management of natural and man-made disasters in the country. Given the high seismic risk and vulnerability in India, NDMA considered it a high priority to identify the critical gaps in the management of earthquakes in India and to work towards the design of appropriate strategies to address these critical gaps by bringing together various stakeholders, earthquake management experts, senior administrators, academics and disaster management practitioners. A Core Group of Experts was set up after the deliberations of a National Conference on Management of Earthquakes in India to prioritise the various steps that need to be taken to strengthen earthquake preparedness, introduce earthquake mitigation initiatives and improve the earthquake response capacity in the c series of workshops were held and meetings of the Core Group held the Draft Guidelines which were reviewed in regional conferences in Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. The Guidelines on the Management of Earthquakes were finalized on the basis of the feedback received from the government officials and earthquake management specialists. On 16th May 2007, Shri Shivraj Patil, Hon'ble Union Home Minister of India, in the presence of Shri Kapil Sibal, Hon'ble Minister for Earth Sciences and Science and Technology, released the National Disaster Management Guidelines for the Management of Earthquakes. These Guidelines, prepared with the active support of more than 300 seismic experts in the country, identified the following critical concerns in the management of earthquakes in India. ? Lack of awareness among various stakeholders about earthquake risk and vulnerability ? Inadequate attention to structural mitigation measures in the engineering education syllabus ? Inadequate monitoring and enforcement of earthquake-resistant building codes and town planning bye-laws ? Absence of systems of licensing of engineers and masons ? Absence of earthquake-resistant features in non-engineered construction in suburban and rural areas ? Lack of formal training among professionals in earthquake-resistant construction practices; and ? Lack of adequate preparedness and response capacity among various stakeholder groups. The weak compliance and enforcement of Building Codes has often been attributed to the prevailing impression that the earthquake-resistant building codes prepared by the Bureau of Indian Standards are mostly recommendatory. The Earthquake Management Guidelines has now made it mandatory for the strict compliance and enforcement of earthquake-resistant building codes and other safety related codes, as well as the modified techno-legal regime, consisting of revised town planning bye-laws, land-use zoning and Development. Control Regulations, for all new construction with immediate effect in towns and cities in zones III, IV and V. Six Pillars of Earthquake Management in India The Earthquake Management Guidelines have identified the need to evolve a strategy based on the following six pillars. ? Earthquake-resistant construction of all new structures ? Earthquake-resistant construction of all new structures ? Selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting of existing priority structures and lifeline structures ? Regulation and Enforcement ? Awareness and Preparedness ? Capacity Development (Education, Training, R&D, Capacity Building and Documentation) ? Emergency Response It is necessary to ensure that all new structures which are being built in the country henceforth will be built in strict compliance to the National Building Codes and other relevant safety codes so that even if a high intensity earthquake happens, the newly constructed assets and infrastructure will not collapse and cause loss of lives and damage to property, assets and infrastructure. Simultaneously, special efforts will have to be taken to undertake the structural safety audit of critical infrastructure and lifeline assets and wherever necessary, weak structures will have to be seismically strengthened and retrofitted. Given the large number of existing structures and building stock in the country estimated to be more than 250 million structures, it will not be practical or realistic to undertake the strengthening of such a large number of existing structures. However, critical infrastructure and lifeline assets will have to be evaluated for their capacity to withstand high intensity earthquakes, especially if they are in the high or very high earthquake-prone areas of seismic zones IV and V. The rigorous enforcement of a techno-legal regime and strict compliance to existing earthquake-resistant building codes and other relevant safety codes has to be continuously monitored, especially in the high and very high risk seismic zones IV and V. The Model Town Planning Bye-law circulated by the Government of India to the state governments in 2004 has to be reviewed and adopted to ensure the safety, especially in high risk areas. The enforcement personnel in Urban Local Bodies and other local administration agencies will have to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the relevant techno-legal regime and ensure compliance when evaluating building plans and issuing approvals and building permissions. All stakeholders have to be aware about the earthquake risk and vulnerability in their local areas and strengthen the multi-stakeholder preparedness to improve local capacity to withstand the devastating impact of future earthquakes and if earthquakes strike, to have adequate capacity to respond effectively. State Governments have been encouraged to set up State Disaster Response Forces from their existing strength of police personnel who can be trained and equipped to respond effectively to natural disasters and man-made disasters. Special Efforts in Earthquake Risk Mitigation NDMA has initiated the steps for launching a National Earthquake Risk Mitigation Project (NERMP) with the help of the concerned Ministries of the Government of India and state governments to improve earthquake management in the country. Some of the major activities proposed to be carried out are listed below. It is estimated that more than 800,000 engineers, over 25,000 architects and over one crore masons are associated with the construction industry in India. However, most of them are not adequately equipped with the knowledge and skills associated with the earthquake-resistant construction and seismic strengthening and retrofitting of weak structures. In 2004, the Government of India had initiated two programmes called National Programme for Capacity Building of Engineers in Earthquake Risk Management (NPCBEERM) and National Programme for Capacity Building of Architects in Earthquake Risk Management (NPCBAERM) with the help of reputed engineering education institutions like Indian Institutes of Technology and National Institutes of Technology. It is proposed to further intensify this programme by extending it through a larger number of institutions including selected Engineering Colleges as well as Industrial Training Institutes and Polytechnics for training engineers and masons respectively. Thus, the capacity building of engineers, architects, lead masons and masons in earthquake-resistant construction, structural safety audit and retrofitting will be carried out through a network of resource institutions in the country like Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology, selected engineering colleges and architecture colleges, Industrial Training Institutes and Polytechnics, apart from other professional agencies. The possibility of using distance education through the internet and television channels will also be explored. There is an urgent need for creating greater Public Awareness on earthquake risk, vulnerability and emergency response in the event of occurrence of any earthquake among the general public in earthquake-prone areas. It is envisaged that these activities will be carried out with the help of the state governments, district administrations and the Disaster Management Authorities at the state and district levels through the electronic and print media as well as through street plays, mobile multi-media vans, hoardings, wall paintings etc. The consolidation and strengthening of the Techno-Legal Regime and the strict compliance of existing earthquake-resistant building codes and other relevant safety codes as well as updated Town Planning Bye-laws is a sine qua non for the effective management of earthquakes in India. With the help of the state governments and concerned Ministries of the Government of India, special efforts will be made to strengthen the techno-legal regime. In all the major earthquakes in the country in the past, it has been observed that the health facilities like district hospitals, primary health centres, etc. faced damage and became non-functional. The uninterrupted functioning of health facilities after the occurrence of an earthquake has to be ensured in earthquake-prone areas which are likely to face high and very high intensity earthquakes. Special efforts will be made to undertake structural safety audit of a few district hospitals in high and very high risk zones and carry out seismic strengthening and retrofitting of the critical lifeline blocks in these district hospitals and improve their capacity to face high intensity earthquakes. In India, it is observed that very little allocations are made tor the institutional strengthening of academic, professional and research institutions to carry out the state-of-the-art research and development in the construction sector, unlike many developed countries and even some of the developing countries which have sophisticated modern construction of building stock. Special efforts will be made in the areas of institutional strengthening and R & 0 in the construction sector to improve the earthquake-resistant features as this is required due to the booming construction requirements of a fast growing and increasingly urbanized economy. Traditional Building Typologies It has been seen in most of the earthquake-prone areas that traditional housing construction in such areas is often influenced by the earthquake risk and traditional artisans have built houses which can withstand the after effects of earthquakes. In several villages of Gujarat, traditional houses called Bhongas withstood the devastating impact of the Bhuj earthquake. Studies are proposed to be carried out in appropriate building typologies which demonstrate the traditional wisdom of construction in earthquake-prone areas, like the Dhajji-Diwari system in Jammu and Kashmir, Bhongas in the Kutch region of Gujarat, brick-nogged wood frame construction in Himachal Pradesh and ekra constructions in Assam. National School Safety Project In collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resource Development, NDMA is initiating a Pilot Project for National School Safety in selected high and very high risk districts in the country falling in seismic zones IV and V. Structural Safety Audit of selected school buildings in the selected districts will be carried out for assessing the ability of these structures to withstand high intensity earthquakes and a most vulnerable school building will be selected with the help of the district administration to carry out the retrofitting and seismic strengthening of that structure. It is also envisaged that a National School Safety Policy will be prepared and a Handbook on School Safety will be developed with checklists and formats for conducting structural safety audits and retrofitting of school buildings. Simultaneously, special efforts will be made to improve the capacity building of engineers, education officials, school children, teachers and parents and for creating greater public awareness on school safety. Medical Preparedness and Mass Casualty Management There is an urgent need to strengthen the medical preparedness and mass casualty management facilities in earthquake-prone areas. With the help of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and the concerned state governments in earthquake-prone states, it is proposed to ensure the availability of Heli-Ambulances, Containerised Mobile Field Hospitals, Improved Bio Safety Laboratories, Integrated Ambulance Network, Trauma care Network, etc. with special emphasis on very high risk earthquake-prone areas. It is expected that many of these activities will be initiated during the Eleventh Five Year period and further intensified subsequently as mandated in the National Disaster Management Guidelines for Medical Preparedness and Mass Casualty Management prepared by NDMA. Improved Emergency Response Capacity Selected personnel from Eight battalions of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) based in different strategic locations of the country have been trained in Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue, watermanship training, heli-slithering, Medical First Response, etc. and are being equipped with the state-of-the-art life saving equipments. Various stakeholder groups like elected representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), Self Help Groups, National Social Service, Nehru Yuvak Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), Indian Red Cross Society, Non-Governmental Organisations, corporate sector, media and community at large are being trained on various aspects of Community Based Disaster Management. Civil Defence is being revamped to play a significant role in disaster management. Fire and Emergency Services is being strengthened with the provision of modern life saving equipments to play a more active role in multi-hazard response. All the above activities will improve the earthquake preparedness in India and create an enabling environment for a culture of preparedness, mitigation and improved emergency response capability in the country, to strengthen our resolve to work towards a disaster-resilient India.