BMC’S quake plan: Divide and rescue

City divided into 7,700 grids, which have been overlaid on a map with details of hospitals, schools and shelters in every locality

If an earthquake hits Mumbai, which areas will be worst hit? Is the city prepared to handle the disaster? And what safety measures are being put in place by the civic body to minimise the damage?

A study spanning two years and costing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Rs23 lakh has found areas such as Shivaji Nagar, Govandi, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Powai, Vikhroli, Vidyavihar and Mulund are likely to be the most vulnerable if an earthquake hits the city.

These areas were identified after a study by a team from the Indian Institute of Technologybombay (IIT-B) showed that a fault line in Panvel, about 18km from Mumbai, is still active.

A fault line is a break or fracture in the Earth’s crust that could cause an earthquake. The Panvel fault line stretches towards Koparkhairne, all the way to Bhiwandi.

Using these findings, the team of two professors and two students measured the potential impact of an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale on the city.

They found that Mumbai’s east, which is closer to Panvel, is more likely to be affected than the west and the island city.

“As the Panvel fault is still very prominent, its effect on the city cannot be ruled out. For an effective disaster management plan for the city, detailed information is key,” said Ravi Sinha, professor of civil engineering at IIT-B, who was part of the study.

The study also found that in 1618, close to 20,000 people lost their lives after an earthquake struck Mumbai, which at the time had a population of just 2 lakh.

Sinha said the longer the gap between two earthquakes, the higher will be the impact.

The first-of-its-kind initiative by IIT-B and the civic body has helped put in place a disaster management plan for these areas.

The BMC has divided the city into 7,700 grids of 250 sqm each. These grids have been overlaid on a Mumbai map that has details of hospitals, open plots, schools and shelters in every locality.

This will help the disaster management department during rescue operations

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“We are working to modernise the entire disaster response system so that we can improve our response time and the quality of response when an emergency hits,” civic chief Ajoy Mehta told HT.

The department is also creating a detailed response plan in which it will list the number of beds in every hospital, the facilities available at police stations, fire stations and government offices, among others, to ensure minimum damage and loss of life during an earthquake.