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IMPORTANT COMPLETED PROJECTS & INTERVENTIONS |
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| (a) |
Intervention
for Panic Control & Confidence Building in the aftermath
of Bhawnagar Earthquake, Gujarat State, India, October
& November 2000 |
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Intervention
involved efforts in bringing among people a scientific
angle to phenomena of earthquake, and awareness creation
and confidence building in earthquake resistant building
technologies through public meetings, discussions, video
shows and actual technology demonstration. |
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| (b) |
Rapid Damage
Assessment and Formulation of Technical Packages for Rehabilitation
after Kutchch Earthquake, Gujarat State, India –
February to March, 2001 |
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Technical
support to TARU, the consultants to the BMTPC, Government
of India, for rapid assessment of damage in villages
and towns in the affected areas of the State. Task involving
extensive field work for damage documentation and assessment,
followed by preparation of the technical specifications
for the new construction including the up-gradation
of the vernacular building systems and for the repair
and seismic retrofitting of the non-engineered structures
in the villages.
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| (c) |
Kutchch Earthquake
Safety Initiative, Gujarat State, India, January to October
2001 |
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This
was the work that was carried out immediately after
the earthquake and lasted for approximately 9 months.
In the emergency phase it involved information dissemination
through printed media including news-papers and single
page handouts, TV interviews, workshops etc. Special
handouts were prepared for the construction of disaster
resistant mid-term shelter that the people as well as
the NGOs could use. Training of masons in retrofitting
was also conducted to assist various NGOs in taking
up the activity in their area of operation. It also
involved making of Visual Damage Identification Guide.
In addition two booklets were made, one on the disaster
resistant new construction and the other on the seismic
retrofitting of houses. These were distributed free
of cost to NGOs as well as to the people in various
areas.
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| (d) |
Making Materials
for Awareness Building for Gujarat State Disaster Management
Authority, India |
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This
rehabilitation program was markedly different from the
earlier ones, especially in regards to the efforts by
the government to take the necessary information concerning
disaster resistant construction to the people. To support
this aspect of the government program several things
were made for GSDMA. This included (a) Three pamphlets
and ten posters on Reconstruction, Retrofitting and
on Repairs, (b) Two booklets including one on disaster
resistant new construction and the other on disaster
resistant retrofitting, (c) Two videos for the promotion
of disaster resistant technologies.
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| (e) |
Rapid Awareness
of Post Earthquake Reconstruction Program, Gujarat State,
India |
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In
the aftermath of the Kutchch Earthquake a rapid awareness
campaign for disaster safety in the quake affected areas
was taken up for GSDMA aimed at the government functionaries
at village and taluka level, as well as the village
sarpanchs from the area. It involved lectures and discussions
aided by video presentations. It was carried out at
12 different locations in 12 most severely affected
talukas of the State
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| (f) |
On-Site Training
of Government Earthquake Engineers, Gujarat State, India
– July to October, 2001 |
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In
the aftermath of the Kutchch Earthquake a program was
taken up for Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority
(GSDMA) for on-site training of the 1200 government
engineers deputed on rehabilitation programme in repair
& retrofitting of the rural houses as well as disaster
resistant new construction. The training was carried
out on damaged structures that were repaired and retrofitted
at 12 locations in the most severely affected parts
of the state. |
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| (g) |
“Capacity
Building for Long-term Preparedness” for Gujarat
State Disaster Management Authority, November 2001 to
June 2003 |
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A large
program aimed at building capacity to withstand future
disasters of the communities of 478 earthquake affected
villages in 15 blocks of 5 districts in the State of
Gujarat. It involved interaction with the communities
around the construction of a disaster resistant structure,
retrofitting of a public building, and the construction
of a roof rain water harvesting system. Awareness was
raised and confidence was built through meetings, discussions,
video shows and actual technology demonstration. 6000
masons were trained on-site. Disaster Preparedness centres
were set up and Disaster Brigade evolved in each village.
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| (h) |
Post Kutchch
Earthquake Reconstruction of 4 Villages in Kutchch, Gujarat
State, India, August 2001 to March 2004 |
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In
this project of Bhansali Trust of north Gujarat the
work involved providing technical support to Bhansali
Trust in the form of participatory design of houses
and participatory planning of the villages of Chitrod,
Shanva, Fulpara and Sukhpar, all in Kutchch, through
the interaction with villagers followed by the execution
of the project. It amounted to the reconstruction of
approximately 1600 houses, and other infrastructure
facilities including roads, schools, panchayat building,
aanganwadis, drainage etc.
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| (i) |
Field Shake
Table Program for Confidence Building, Gujarat State,
November 2001 to December 2002 |
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The
program was executed for UNCRD and EDM of Kobe, Japan
under the technical guidance of Prof. Arya. Project
involved the setting up of the test platform, interacting
with local people and masons, building of test models,
and testing them. In all 3 sets of half scale models
with the commonly used construction systems of the area
were tested. |
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| (j) |
Repair &
Retrofitting of 12 schools, and Reconstruction of 16 schools
funded by Prime-Minister’s National Relief Fund,
Kutchch, Gujarat State, April 2003 to December 2004 |
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It
involved provision of full technical support to Bhansali
Trust in the execution of project including planning,
quality control, appointment of engineers, review of
plans for execution, billing, and liaison with the architects. |
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| (k) |
Rain-water
Harvesting System Installation in Manali Apartment, Ahmedabad,
Gujarat State, India, July 2003 |
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An
urban project that included the installation of the
roof rainwater harvesting system for a group of four
multi-story structures to recharge a deep bore through
a gravel sand filter on the premises, and the installation
of the flood control system that consisted of diverting
the surface water of the plot in to a re-excavated old
well on the premises. |
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Past Involvement
of Principle Office Bearers |
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The principle
office bearers include Rajendra Desai, a structural engineer,
and Rupal Desai, an architect. Both worked in the main-stream
design and construction projects for 12 years in the United
States of America before shifting their focus to the sustainable
options for shelter in 1984. The years that followed could
be summarized as follows. |
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They worked on the development
and dissemination of alternative technologies for
construction, sanitation, water and energy specifically
in rural India. This work provided a strong foundation
through the understanding of the issues of sustainability,
rural economics, rural artisans etc. |
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In the end of 1993 they turned
their attention to Vulnerability Reduction
in the aftermath of Latur Earthquake in Maharashtra
State, India. They spent six years in the post earthquake
rehabilitation, working at point zero, learning
first hand the seismic retrofitting of vernacular
buildings, building disaster resistant structures
through the improvement in the vernacular building
systems, and transferring the know-how to the local
artisans and community at large. To support the
technology transfer initiative they prepared a large
number of publications, in printed form and video. |
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They were also involved in
the post earthquake rapid damage assessment in the
first urban earthquake disaster of India at Jabalpur
city in Madhya Pradesh State, India in April 1997,
and in Western Garhwal region of Himalayan foothills
in Uttaranchal State in March 1999. |
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In Garhwal they worked extensively
in several short stretches in 1999, 2000, 2001 and
2002 creating awareness, disseminating information,
training government personnel and masons, and demonstrating
the seismic retrofitting of vernacular buildings
of the area. They also prepared two awareness videos
and booklets for the State. They made a detailed
manual, first of its kind in India, on Earthquake
Resistant Construction, Repair and Retrofitting
in the Uttaranchal State for the Government of India. |
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