Compliance to building codes for disaster resilience: Bangladesh and Nepal

Ahmed, Iftekhar; Gajendran, Thayaparan; Brewer, Graham; Maund, Kim; Meding, Jason von; Mackee, Jamie

doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2018.01.127

Cited by 20 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) established a national building code (NBC) for Nepal in 1993–94, with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements. Approved by the Government of Nepal in 2003, the NBC entails earthquake‐safe building guidelines, but cultural, political, and socioeconomic conditions impede compliance with such standards (Ahmed et al, 2018). The sector is characterised by informality (UN‐HABITAT, 2010), making it more difficult to enforce building codes as many houses are constructed by the owner without a permit (UN‐HABITAT, 2010; Ahmed et al, 2018), and municipalities lack the capability to ensure compliance with these processes (Subedi and Mishima, 2008; Dixit et al, 2012; The Kathmandu Post , 2015).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Approved by the Government of Nepal in 2003, the NBC entails earthquake‐safe building guidelines, but cultural, political, and socioeconomic conditions impede compliance with such standards (Ahmed et al, 2018). The sector is characterised by informality (UN‐HABITAT, 2010), making it more difficult to enforce building codes as many houses are constructed by the owner without a permit (UN‐HABITAT, 2010; Ahmed et al, 2018), and municipalities lack the capability to ensure compliance with these processes (Subedi and Mishima, 2008; Dixit et al, 2012; The Kathmandu Post , 2015). Research shows that awareness of the NBC is low even among trained masons and engineers, not to mention the owners who are building houses themselves (Subedi and Mishima, 2008; Inter‐Agency Common Feedback Project, 2016).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The impact of humanitarian assistance on post‐disaster social vulnerabilities: some early reflections on the Nepal earthquake in 2015

2021

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Every year, thousands of people around the world who face unequal access to political and social power and resources lose their lives and/or livelihoods in natural hazard events. As a result, the reduction of vulnerability has become a central concern of humanitarian actors. This paper analyses the impact of humanitarian assistance on vulnerabilities in Nepal following the Gorkha earthquake on 25 April 2015. The causes and manifestations of vulnerability before and after the disaster are determined through the application of the Pressure and Release model and the adoption of a mixed‐methods research approach. The findings of the study reveal that 20 months after the earthquake, humanitarian assistance had not had any long‐term positive influences on the root causes of the phenomenon, and that vulnerabilities at the micro level could be resolved in part. To diminish the extent of disasters in the future, however, the fundamental reasons for the vulnerability have to be addressed better.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of humanitarian assistance on post‐disaster social vulnerabilities: some early reflections on the Nepal earthquake in 2015

2021

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“…5B). The brick sector is no anomaly, as corruption and limited capacity hinder enforcement and compliance with regulations across traffic and transportation, forests and conservation, food safety, building codes, and income taxes (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scalable deep learning to identify brick kilns and aid regulatory capacity

Lee

Brooks

Tajwar

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Improving compliance with environmental regulations is critical for promoting clean environments and healthy populations. In South Asia, brick manufacturing is a major source of pollution but is dominated by small-scale, informal producers who are difficult to monitor and regulate—a common challenge in low-income settings. We demonstrate a low-cost, scalable approach for locating brick kilns in high-resolution satellite imagery from Bangladesh. Our approach identifies kilns with 94.2% accuracy and 88.7% precision and extracts the precise GPS coordinates of every brick kiln across Bangladesh. Using these estimates, we show that at least 12% of the population of Bangladesh (>18 million people) live within 1 km of a kiln and that 77% and 9% of kilns are (illegally) within 1 km of schools and health facilities, respectively. Finally, we show how kilns contribute up to 20.4 μg/m3 of PM2.5 (particulate matter of a diameter less than 2.5 μm) in Dhaka when the wind blows from an unfavorable direction. We document inaccuracies and potential bias with respect to local regulations in the government data. Our approach demonstrates how machine learning and Earth observation can be combined to better understand the extent and implications of regulatory compliance in informal industry.

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“…Seismic experts suspect that if an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale occurs in large cities of Bangladesh, there would be a major human tragedy and economic disaster because of the structural failure of many buildings built in these urban centres without the use of proper construction materials and in violation of building codes. Building codes specify a wide range of design and construction guidelines and standards related to safety, health, amenity and sustainability, where the safety aspects are the most crucial to protecting human lives and well-being from disasters (Ahmed et al , 2017). Consideration of earthquake forces in structural design, city planning and infrastructure development is therefore a prerequisite for future disaster mitigation (American Museum of Natural History, 2013).…”

Section: Plate Motions and Potential Sources Of Earthquakementioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonics and earthquake potential of Bangladesh: a review

Apu

Das

2020

IJDRBE

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an integrative review of the literature to understand the underlying risks of tectonic plate movements, earthquakes and possible earth tremors on Bangladesh as a country filled with waterways. Design/methodology/approach This study presents a review of seismic activities to present an overview of the active tectonic architecture of the region and its seismic potential with past consequence in Bangladesh region and its immediate surroundings. For the purpose of this review, peer-reviewed journals and electronic databases are the main sources for identifying studies, along with conference proceedings from the similar events and networks. Findings Review reveals that Bangladesh sits on three tectonic plates atop the world’s largest river delta and has blind faults, shallow faults and high amplified liquefiable zones. It has experienced few devastating earthquakes but most of the records are not documented and also a lack of proper seismic equipment could not record all the events. Also Bangladesh is ill prepared to tackle the aftermath of any strong earthquake and if an earthquake with 7 Mw or greater magnitude occurred, it would leave Bangladesh blighted by a catastrophic disaster with significant destruction of infrastructure, fire outbreaks resulting from breakdown of gas piping systems, fire from collapsed electrical lines and disruption of water connections both in urban and rural centres with greater impact on industrial cities that may not have adhered to standard building codes. Originality/value This paper outlined the necessity of an earthquake hazard catalogue, also preparation in sense of seismic risk mitigation and influence of decision-makers, policy institutes and professionals in ensuring infrastructure development and the building code provides for a safe environment and resilient buildings that can reduce or eliminate the risks.

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Compliance to building codes for disaster resilience: Bangladesh and Nepal

Cited by 20 publications

References 2 publications

The impact of humanitarian assistance on post‐disaster social vulnerabilities: some early reflections on the Nepal earthquake in 2015

The impact of humanitarian assistance on post‐disaster social vulnerabilities: some early reflections on the Nepal earthquake in 2015

Scalable deep learning to identify brick kilns and aid regulatory capacity

Tectonics and earthquake potential of Bangladesh: a review

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