Dear Members and Friends,

The second month of this year has shaken by a disastrous natural phenomenon. Although, natural disasters due to earthquakes, floods, cyclones, etc. have been occurring since time immemorial, however, increase in population and population density per se plus infrastructure developed on account of that, the severity of the disasters is much more both in regards to loss of life and property as compared to the past.

During the past 10 years, a number of major disasters have occurred in India and abroad. In June 2013 the state of Uttarakhand received an unusual amount of rainfall, which led to the melting of the Chorabari glacier and consequent overflow of River Mandakini, which affected large parts of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Western Nepal. The massive flash floods and landslides resulted in the death of residents and tourists as well as extensive damage to property. The worst hit was the Kedarnath valley. The death toll was more than 5000.

The 2021 Uttarakhand flood, also known as the Chamoli disaster occurred due to a large boulder and ice avalanche comprising the moraine material dislodged from Ronti peak. The disaster left many killed or missing; most were workers at the Tapovan dam site.

On February 6, 2023, Turkey and northern Syria experienced powerful earthquakes measuring 7.8 on Richter scale causing huge damages to property and loss of about 45,000 lives. The shocks are still occurring.

The collapse of a structure raises immediate doubt about the quality of construction, including its design forces. That’s where, we as consulting engineers have a social & moral responsibility. We should be concerned about the loss of precious lives (human, animal & plants) plus the destruction of assets. Since the nature and extent of natural hazards is ever increasing, there is an urgent need to review the design codes and standards to cater to the floods and earthquakes experienced in the recent past. We also need to introspect the adequacy of the investigations vis-à-vis the design and construction plus the maintenance. Exercising of mandated quality controls in design and construction also need to be ascertained.

The lessons learnt from the disasters should be properly documented and disseminated to minimize loss due to natural calamities in the future.

The CEAI Western Region along with INSDAG and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay held a workshop on “Steel – for Sustainable Development” on 4^th February 2023.

CEAI participated in the Commerce Minister’s interaction with the Services Sector Group of SEPC.

CEAI was also represented at the function hosted to meet the President of the Institution of Structural Engineers, London on the 10^th February 2023.

CEAI is continuing to be present at meets which matter for the profession of consulting engineers.

Warm regards,

R S Sharma