Abstract
Housing is one of the most important needs of mankind to survive. A secure and properly planned house, gives comfort to people using it, keeping them secure from severe environment, un-wanted people and animals. Apart from the human casualties, the other striking and usually most visible effect of natural disaster is majorly the destruction of houses. The loss of houses has a devastating effect on privacy, livelihoods and the dignity of individuals. An effective program for the reconstruction of houses for those affected is critical to ensure restoration of the society’s economy, cultural identity and dignity. For many humanitarian organizations, employing professional construction companies is the most common and quickest way of rebuilding houses in the aftermath of a disaster. However every strategy has its own risks and limitations, but there is a growing awareness being shared among countries to mitigate these situations. This study carefully examines the reconstruction strategies employed in earthquake affected buildings of Kashmir, Pakistan and Gujrat, India. The analysis concludes proper fulfillment of the bye laws for seismic resistant construction and enforcing law of training for laborers and local people in redevelopment of earthquake hit area.
Highlights
Kashmir earthquake hit on October 8, 2005 and it was one of the most destructive earthquakes in the recent history of the Indo-Pak subcontinent
On the basis of literature review, it was observed that the movement of the outermost fragmented layer of earth causes earthquakes and the reason behind it is the internal complex mechanism happening within the earth
The common factor among both case studies were the reconstruction processes in which financial grants were paid in stages on subsidized rates to the affected home owners based on the damage inspection methodology
Summary
Kashmir earthquake hit on October 8, 2005 and it was one of the most destructive earthquakes in the recent history of the Indo-Pak subcontinent. The magnitude of the earthquake was recorded as M 7.6 at the Richter scale (UN-HABITAT, 2010). The source of the earthquake was located at the Balakot-Bagh reverse fault towards the north of Islamabad, federal capital of Pakistan. The earthquake caused a death toll of approximately 75,000 people. It caused injuries to more than 80,000 people and most of them were disabled as a result of amputations. More than 2.8 million people became homeless as a result of 455,000 partial or total collapse of buildings. The overall economic loss was close to 5.2 billion US dollars (Mumtaz, Mughal, Stephenson & Bothara, 2008; Javed, Khan, Penna & Guido, 2006)
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