Most of the houses in urban Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts are too vulnerable to earthquake, according to the experts.“Most of houses or housings have not followed good construction practices and materials, they said during an interaction here in the Valley.

The construction of houses have not followed basic norms of Building Construction Standard putting the lives of thousands at risk, said senior engineer at the Department of Building Construction of Kathmandu Metropolis Dr Uttar Kumar Regmi.

He blamed the low quality construction materials that have been used for the increasing risk. “Nepal Bureau of Standard and Meteorology doubts on the quality of construction materials,” Regmi said, adding that cement and steel manufacturers have been producing low quality construction materials putting people’s lives at risk. “Most brands of cement and steel do not meet basic standard,” he said, suggesting the industries to invest in research and development before manufacturing cement and steel.

National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal also believes that no high seismic earthquake is needed to destroy Kathmandu Valley houses.

“Some of the housing companies have also not adopted anti-earthquake measures,” expert at the society Bijaya Krishna Upadhaya said, adding that most of apartments are located at the bank of rivers, making them more vulnerable.

Director at Kathmandu Steel — a trading company — Ananda Nepal, on the occasion, accepted that most of the steel manufacturers have been manufacturing low quality steels, which is easily affected by rust. “Nepali housing companies have been using low grade steel, he said, adding that negative consequences of the product could be terrible.

The experts also warned people to be ware on cement and steel quality before buying and suggested to use best grade products to construct their houses. “People also should follow Building Construction Standard and adopt anti-earthquake technology during construction to make their houses safer.”

source: the himalayan times,29 april 2013