Blore should avoid being vertically challenged: Expert

Blore should avoid being vertically challenged: Expert
By P M Raghunandan, DH News Service, Bangalore:
With BDA adopting the concept of vertical growth, Bangalore will soon have more and more high-rises. It has made provision for additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR) up to 3 (depending on road width).

“Vertical growth” being the new mantra of development, the Bangalore Development Authority has mandated new buildings to adopt safety measures against earthquakes as per the National Building Code (NBC).
BDA in its Master Plan 2015 has adopted NBC 2005, which stipulates guidelines to be followed while planning, designing and constructing buildings. “NBC for quake-resistant buildings will come into effect soon after BBMP incorporates it in its building bye-laws,” BDA sources told Deccan Herald.
NBC is a comprehensive set of regulations laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards, dealing with safety aspects of a building. Once BBMP incorporates NBC into the bye-laws, any organisation or an individual planning to construct a building must adopt the code in the building plan document (it is only after the local body approves the plan, can one take up construction), officials said.
With BDA adopting the concept of vertical growth, Bangalore will soon have more and more high-rises. It has made provision for additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR) up to 3 (depending on road width). A special FAR package is offered to core area (Peta area) and areas falling in Metro rail station’s jurisdiction and BMTC bus stands.
Beware complacency
According to NBC Chairman Prof H C Viswanath, NBC has become highly relevant to Bangalore, especially after BDA adopted the vertical development model for future growth.
“Though Bangalore is seen as reasonably safe from earthquakes, nothing can be ruled out. For instance, places like Lathur and Surat were also seen as safe zones. But quakes did occur in these places. Hence, the BBMP/BDA must act prudent and adopt NBC,” he said.
When the height of a building increases, it will have both vertical (depending on the construction material and use of the building) and horizontal loads (through wind flow) on it. Seismic activity will bring additional load both vertically and horizontally. If the building is not designed to take this extra load, the damage will be more. Hence, NBC aims to minimise casualties and prevent collapse of buildings in case earthquake strikes.
The NBC covers the entire gamut of design practices and materials to be used for building these high-rises, to pre-empt possible damages from all kinds of natural calamities, Prof Viswanath said.