The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) along with the Indian Association of Structural Engineers (IAStructE), and the Consulting Engineers Association of India (CEAI) organised a two-day national workshop on “NBC 2016 and Recently Revised Seismic Codes on Design, Construction and Safety of Built Structures” in Kolkata recently.
During the workshop, a series of technical presentations were made by various experts from different IITs and practicing structural engineers. The techno-legal mechanism covered in NBC 2016 and the detailed technical provisions for design and construction of buildings were duly explained by the speakers followed by technical deliberations thereon. They also demonstrated how the new buildings can be made earthquake resistant in the vulnerable seismic zones particularly zones IV & V; as also how those existing ones can be retrofitted to make them earthquake resistant in accordance with the latest BIS codes.
The Governor of Tripura, Tathagata Roy while inaugurating the same, urged the state authorities and all local bodies for urgent implementation of the recently revised National Building Code of India 2016 (NBC 2016) and the seismic codes to ensure that all buildings and structures including the large number of high rise buildings being constructed in the country are safe against natural disasters like earthquakes.
Roy also mentioned that the Indian Standards including the NBC 2016, although voluntary in nature, incorporates comprehensive administrative and technical provisions which can be readily adopted by the implementing authorities to suitably revise and revamp their building bye-laws.
The NBC 2016, with its vast coverage on accessibility, low income housing, rural and hill area habitat planning, structural safety of buildings in regions prone to natural disasters is of great socio-economic relevance including for Accessible India Campaign of the Government of India. The provisions on use of new and innovative materials and technologies and on prefabricated construction techniques can give fillip to speedier construction to meet the objectives of Housing for All by 2022 as envisaged by the Government of India.
