Tuesday, January 4 2005 10:10 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Centre has asked States to enact model byelaws on earthquake resistance in the building norms of their local and municipal bodies.

"Central Government has written to States to incorporate model byelaws on earthquake resistance in the construction norms specified by their local and municipal bodies in tune with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) earthquake norms", National Seismic Advisor A S Arya told reporters in New Delhi.

States have promised to comply with the directive within next three-four months through appropriate legislations in this regard, he said.

Arya said that the existing BIS norms on earthquake resistance are adequate enough to withstand an earthquake of higher order, provided buildings, bridges and dams are constructed as per the set guidelines.

He said that a decision has also been taken to impart earthquake resistance construction techniques to civil engineers at premier institutions like the Indian Institute of Science, the IITs and BITs Pilani.

Stating that "prevention is better than cure," he said if the BIS norms are fully complied with during construction, buildings can become fool-proof earthquake resistant.

Arya, however, said that the existing norms were not fully complied with in order to cut construction costs.

By spending 45 per cent over and above the basic cost of civil construction for earthquake resistance, buildings could be protected against earthquake shocks, he said.