HINDUSTANTIMES, 02 | metrospecial | MONDAY,AUGUST09, 2010 mumbai first IsDISASTERyour MANAGEMENThome quake-proof?

ON SHAKYGROUNDStudyshows homes built on reclaimed landare vulnerable during quakes. Thesoil in such areas could run likemuddywater,damaging foundations. Asusceptibilitymap could help developers designbuildings with area-specific precautions

Watch this story on THE RECLAMATIONSTORY Mumbai Express on WHATTHE STUDYSAYS IBNLokmat 1708: First major reclamation done ■ Professor Deepankar conducted the study. —usually sand or clay— —atAndheri, , magnitudeof6.5 to 7.5, ured 7to7.5 on the Richter at 10.30 pm today to construct Mahim-Sion causeway Choudhury of the Indian flowslikemuddy water. Bhandup,Borivli, Dahisar soil in Bhandup and scale. ■ Between 2008 and InstituteofTechnology- and Malad —atearthquake Malvani in Malad would liq- 1772: Second major reclamation to 2009, theyprepared asoil ■ UsingGeographic ■ These maps will help Snehal Rebello Bombayand Professor magnitudes ranging from 5 uefy faster.Incontrast, stop ingress of water andflooding of liquefaction susceptibility InformationSystem-based designers and engineers to ■ [email protected] Sumedh Mhaskeof to 7.5onthe Richter scale. Dahisarand twospots at Central Mumbai, and to connect map for Mumbai. Soil liq- software, theresearchers check the vulnerability of Veermata Jijabai Institute Borivli would liquefyonly Mahalaxmi to uefaction is aphenomenon studied soil with the poten- ■ Thestudy found that in the project to soil liquefac- MUMBAI: Residents of Bandraand of Te chnology, , when thetremors meas- areonsafer ground compared in which cohesion-less soil tial to liquefy at 238 spots case of tremors of the tion. 1784: reclamation to those of buildingsconstructed on done to complete causewaybetween land reclaimed from the sea in areas What happens during an earthquake Dongri, and Worli such as Bhandup and Borivli. 1793: Bellasis Road built to join That’sbecause buildingsin Mazgaon to Malabar Hill Mumbai’sreclaimed areas aremore likely to be damagedduring an earth- 1803: Mumbai connected to quakethan those elsewhere, accord- Salsette by causewayfromSion ing to astudy done by the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay(IIT- 1836: Mumbai Port built on B) and Veermata Jijabai Institute of reclaimed land Technology(VJTI), Matunga. During 1838: Causewayjoins an earthquake, the soil in reclaimed Colaba island to Old Women’s Island areas could takeonaliquid quality and H-Shape Island of Mumbai and flowlikemuddy water,affecting building foundations. 1845: Mahim, Bandraconnected The study,published in the March by causeway issue of the Journal of Applied Geophysics, is important because the different ways 1855: First railway line laid in which soil reacts during tremors Prior to the quake, waterpressure When an earthquakeoccurs,the ground shakecauses the water Theability of the soil to support (Boribunder to Thane) could necessitate area-specific con- between soil particles is relatively low. pressure to rise, which in turn makes the soil flow likeafluid. foundations of buildings is reduced. struction designs in Mumbai. 1861 to 1863: Colaba “A building design suitable for Causeway widened, strengthened Atremor stronger than 5.5 on the ApartfromMumbai, soil liquefac- Andheri maynot be safefor Borivli,” Mumbai is vulnerable because it is located in peninsular that 1862: wall demolished, all said IIT-B Professor Deepankar comprises Dharvad, Aravali and Singhbhum proto-continents with Richter scale is considered an tion maps have been prepared for tankstill Parelfilled Choudhury,one of the researchers. high seismic activityattheir intersections. earthquakesince it causes Delhi,Bhuj, Bangalore,Guwahati, “When land is reclaimed, soil is dumped structuraldamage. Chennai. 1865: Narrowstrip of land into the sea so the chances of lique- reclaimed to construct railway line faction increase.You need to takespe- between Churchgate and Colaba cialcarewhile designing earthquake- resistant measures in such areas. 1870: Hills of Chinchpokali, Byculla However, this is not normally done.” quarried and boulders dumped into The study is important forMumbai, the sea to reclaim land near railway which falls in the moderateSeismic line, swamps and porttoprevent Zone 3and is susceptible to earth- accumulation of water quakes measuring6to6.5 on the 1875: Sassoon Docksbuilt on Richter scale.Thereare 23 fault lines HT GRAPHIC: RICHA,RAMESH reclaimed land along Panvel, Thane and Dharamtar creeks around Mumbai. On July 1, 1905: Cuff Parade, ie,western moderatetremorsmeasuring 3.1 on shoreofColabareclaimed the Richter scale were felt in parts of Studysoil in reclaimed areas: Experts Divaand Thane. 1870 to 1970: Backbay The research team prepared asoil reclaimed liquefaction susceptibilitymap for Snehal Rebello Amap will help decide how 1917: 607hectares reclaimed Mumbai’soriginal sevenislands. Soil ■ [email protected] deep the foundation between Colaba and Backbaybya liquefaction is aphenomenon in which group of prominent citizens and pri- cohesion-less soil —usually sandy or MUMBAI: The city’sshores arelikely to should go, especially for vate companies clay—flows likemuddy water. be transformed if the proposal to The map could help urban planners reclaim areas in NaviMumbai, along multi-storeyedbuildings. 1929: DevelopmentofMarine design moreefficient quake-resistant the eastern waterfront and beyond S.K. GUPTA, geologist Drive-NarimanPoint begins on land buildings. “Atpresent, soil testing is Borivli forhousing and infrastructure reclaimed by constructing asea wall done to see howmuch loaditcan take. becomes areality. help decide howdeepthe foundation But thereisnoassessment of what The two-member team thatpre- should go,especially formulti-storeyed Up to 1970: ThirdBackbay will happen to the soil and or howthe pared asoil liquefaction —when soil buildings,”said S.K. Gupta, geologist reclamation carriedout for develop- foundation will reactduring an earth- begins to run likemuddy water during and consultant to the civic body. ment of high-rises at , quake. Knowing the intensityofsoil an earthquake—report forMumbai Currently,developersconstruct Cuff Parade andeastofthe naval liquefaction will help buildersdraw willextend its study to NaviMumbai. buildingsassuming auniform ground dockyard designs suited to the construction site,” “Thereare fault lines in the Panvel shakeeverywhere. 1990 onwards: Supreme said VJTI Professor Sumedh Mhaske. creek thatcan cause ground motion,” Having worked on similar maps for Courtrestricts reclamation along This would makebuildingssafer. said Deepankar Choudhury,ofIIT-B. Kolkata, Delhi, Dehradun and Jabalpur, seashorewith Costal Regulation “Soil testing is done beforecon- He added thatthe preliminary work Joshi said apart from revision of norms Zones. Reclamation to develop resi- structing abuilding; we also consider has begun. every fiveyears, asusceptibilitymap ■ IIT-B Professor Deepankar Choudhury (in blue) and VJTI Professor Sumedh dential spaces along western shore the eventualityofaquake. Asuscep- Geologists stressed the need to pre- would help buildersunderstand the Mhaskeafter preparing asoil liquefaction reportfor Mumbai will extend its study (BandratoMiraRoad) and eastern tibilitymap would be useful,”said Sunil paredetailed microseismic zone maps, earthquake-resistant precautions need- to . PRAFUL GANGURDE shore(Sion to Mulund and Navi Mantri, proprietor,Mantri Builders. based on which construction projects ed in aparticular area. Mumbai) would getthe go-aheadinreclaimed not takeitfor granted, said V. K. Joshi, than post-disaster management.” “It costs only 25 per cent moreto TALK TO US areas. former director,Geological Survey of The chanceofliquefaction is higher makeabuilding safe. When residents Source: Bombay–The Cities Within by Rahul ■ Do youthink the government should have adisaster Mumbai, which falls in the moder- India. “Anearthquakecomes unan- in reclaimed areas because these areas can spend moneyonbeautification of Mehrotraand Sharda Dwivedi and Introduction management plan in place? ateSeismic Zone 3, maynot be very nounced. Therefore, the emphasis must arefilled with bouldersorwaste before balconies and interiors, whynot paya to India by Toby Sinclair and Marie D’Souza [email protected] prone to earthquakes but one should be on pre-disaster management rather soil is dumped on the top.“Amap will little morefor safety,”asked Joshi. Decision on 22-year-old drowns while trying State stalls NTCmills’ open spacemay to rescue friendatnational park HT Correspondent redevelopment plans be delayed ■ [email protected] MUMBAI: In an attempt to save HT Correspondent RajendraAklekar his friends, a22-year-old man ■ [email protected] HOUSING MINISTER AGAINST GRANTING INCENTIVE FSI ■ [email protected] drowned in apond located in THE PLOT ■ State Minister for Housing this,” said Ahir. the SanjayGandhi National MUMBAI: The National Textile Sachin Ahir has sounded his ■ Ahir who is also the legislator ■ The7,441 sq matJuhu has MUMBAI: After the municipal cor- Park in Borivli (West) on Corporation (NTC) mayhave opposition to the granting of of Worli wherethe twomills are been in controversyearlier as poration wasunder pressureto Sunday. hit the goldmine by garnering incentive Floor Space Index located, expressed his opposi- the BMC claims that residents save four open spaces, it cleared Agroup of 13 men from arecordRs1,979 crorefromthe (FSI) to Indiabulls for the two tion to newparking lots. the proposal to buy three of have no right to ask them to Dharavihad gone forapicnic sale of its two Worlimills— mills it purchased recently.This ■ “Almost 25,000 lots have buy the plot. them. But it is yettotakeadeci- near the pond wherethe inci- Bharat Textile and Podar incentive FSIisgranted if the been sanctioned under this ■ TheJVPD scheme, compris- sion on the biggest space of dent reportedly occurred. Processing recently but the mills opt to create public parking scheme. Thereisnoneed for any ing 14 cooperativehousing them all —JVPD (Juhu Vile This comes two days after state government has put the lots. more,” he added. Ahir has writ- ParleDevelopment Scheme) in societies,istogether known as two middle-agedpeople redevelopment plans on hold. ■ “The whole infrastructureof ten aletter to the state UD the JVPD CooperativeHousing Juhu worth Rs 1,000 crore. drowned in the same pond. The state government’s this area is crumbling and we department expressing his oppo- Association. As per apolicy Sourcessaid the procedure While nine men from the Urban Development (UD) need to put some brakes on sition to the parking scheme. maynow getdelayedasafew agreed upon by the Mhadaand group satoutside the Ganesh ■ Firemen search forthe body of FirozIrfan Shaikh who drowned Department has directed the housing societies have raised the BMC, the JVPD housing pond, four went in foraswim, while trying to save his friend at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park civic body to not allowany rede- objections to the sale of the plot. society wastohand over the according to the police. in Borivli on Sunday. HT PHOTO velopment to takeplace on the part of the plot forcreating play- 2005,the NTC gave two entire The fate of these plots plots free of cost to the BMC. RajendraThakur,asenior 10.6-acreland in both these mills grounds and recreation while mills admeasuring their share, reserved foropen spaceswas at ■ Residents want the land to police inspector of Kasturba into the lakeand started drown- lowing which, Shaikh wasfished because NTC has not yetsub- the MHADAuses them for one each to BMC and MHADA. stakeasthe BMC wasallegedly be de-reserved, so that they Margpolicestation, said the ing.Seeing his friend drown, out from the lakeinthe evening. mitted the two mills’ integrat- housing mill workersand cre- The Mazgaon-based NewHind dilly-dallying the process to can improveinfrastructure. incident occurred near the boat- Shaikh jumped in to save him. He wasdeclared deadonarrival ed development plan as man- ating transit accommodation. Mills wasgiven to MHADAand acquirethem. The owners—a ing area at 1.30 pm, which does However, he could not contin- at the civic BhagwatiHospital dated in Development Control However, NTC called this just India United Mills Number 2 federation of 14 housing societies raised objections to the federa- not have securityduring week- ue to hit his hands and legsdue in Borivli. (DC) regulations. aproblem of lack of communi- washanded overtothe civic —ofthis plot hadissued apur- tion and said thattheydonot ends. to exhaustion and sank in. The policehavefiled an This integrated plan includes cation. “Wewill surely giveone body. chase notice, asking the BMC to agreewith the sale proposal. Thedeceasedwas identified Miraculously,Taufiq managed Accidental Death Report (ADR) handing overone-thirdofthe of our mills forhousing and civic Last week, the Bharat textile either develop the proposed facil- Thereare morethan one hous- as FirozIrfan Shaikh, aresi- to reachthe edgeofthe lakeand regarding the incident. open plot to both the civic body amenities as in the previous mill wassold at the record price ities or allowthem development. ing societythathaveapproached dent ’s60-Feet Road. save himself,” said Sub Earlier too the SGNP has and MHADA. “Theyare sup- case,” said the senior NTC offi- of Rs 1,505 crore, the highest It is mandatory to buy the the BMC,” said UpendraDoshi, The policesaid the group of Inspector Sameer Barawarkar. seen such incidents added the posedtotakeour permission cial whodid not wish to be amount forany mill, the 2.39- plots beforethe purchase notices acorporator whofirst raised the men whoworkaszari workers Meanwhile,when Shaikh officials. forthe integrated plan which named as he wasnot authorised acre Podar Processing went for lapsed or else the plots would issue. went to the pond thatisan began sinking in the water,oth- On July 18, two youth has not yetbeen done,” said a to speak to the media. "Wewill Rs 474crore,two weeks ago. automatically return to their He said therewerefour more immersion spot during the ersinthe group raised an alarm drowned after theywere senior official of the state gov- sort out the issue beforeour The NTC said thatthis sale owners. “Thoughthe deadline of plots at Juhu thatwill be coming Ganpati festival. and notified the police. trapped in adeep pond near a ernment. next auction," he added. amount will be pumped in to this plot is December,Iamtold up at the civic improvement com- “When the boys were swim- Fire brigadeofficerswere waterfall inside the Sanjay The Brihanmumbai Insteadofoffering bits and reviveaswell as set up newmills thatafew housing societies have mittee meeting this week. ming,one Taufiq ventured deep also pressed into service, fol- Gandhi National Park. Municipal Corporation uses this pieces in all fivemills it sold in across the country.