Business Desk :
A seminar on ‘Earthquake Risk and Construction Practices in Bangladesh’ was held at a hotel in the capital on Saturday, says a press release.
Crown Cement and GPH Ispat, jointly organised the seminar. Renowned Specialist Engineers from home and abroad attended the seminar. The recent devastating earthquakes in Nepal and the possibility of earthquake in Bangladesh came up in the discussion.
Adviser, Engr Maj General Hamid Al Hasan (Retd), Crown Cement Group, gave welcome address. Prof Dr M Shamim Z Bosunia, President of Institution of Engineers, attended the seminar as the chief guest and Dr Mehdi Ahmed Ansari, Professor of Civil Engineering Department of BUET, was the key-note speaker.
The housing and public works ministry can compel owners of buildings, particularly those in earthquake-prone areas, to have engineering assessment of their structures through issuing gazette notification, said Prof Mehedi Ahmed Ansary of the civil engineering department of Buet.
A housing society can carry out assessments such as subsoil investigation, architectural and structural design at a cost of Tk 2 lakh to Tk 2.5 lakh per building, he said.
Prof Dr M Shamim Z Bosunia stated that factors like unsafe constructions, narrow roads, unplanned filling of low-lying areas, risky electric connections and lack of awareness of the people contribute to the risks in the event of an earthquake.
He said, in construction works the most risky issues are ignoring rules of safe construction practices, constructing buildings without blue-print approvals from relevant authority and lackluster attitude of concerned authority.
Brig General Ali Ahmed Khan, Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defense underlined the need of proper rescue operations equipped with modern technologies after an earthquake hit.
Dr Rajib Saha, assistant professor of civil engineering department of NIT Agartala, India spoke in the seminar covering the area of responsibilities of the civil engineers to reduce the risks of loss during an earthquake.
The seminar was jointly organised by Crown Cement and GPH Ispat Ltd. Crown Cement is a product of MI Cement Factory Ltd. Crown Cement is the largest exporter and it received National Export Gold Trophy for two consecutive years. GPH Ispat, the pioneer of billet export, is the producer of high quality construction still bars. The seminar was part of corporate social responsibilities of these two organisations.
