Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Heritage Sites in India.

Abstract eng:
The total collapse of Dharhara tower in the April 2015 Gorkha Nepal earthquake of magnitude of 7.8 has once again exposed vulnerability of heritage buildings. Architectural heritage is often under constant threat from natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, landslides, volcanoes, and fires, which may cause irreversible damages. It has been observed that heritage sites are further damaged by inadequate emergency interventions which are not sensitive to cultural heritage as urgent responses on occurrence of a disaster is needed. India has observed large number of destructive earthquakes occurred in last 4-5 decades damaging architectural heritage and highlighted the need to redefine the retrofitting strategies for heritage sites located in high seismic risk regions. UNESCO has taken efforts with their mission to Gujarat, India, for the conservation of earthquake-damaged cultural properties in year 2001 followed by preliminary survey of damaged heritage sites by the Indian National Trust for Artistic and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). The identification and listing of cultural heritage properties in other parts of the country which are supposed to be affected by an earthquake is the need in the present context in addition to preparing a comprehensive action plan for disaster mitigation as top most priority. There is an urgent need to understand the seismic behavior of historical construction and to assess the benefits of different techniques which can be used for reinforcing these structures. Present paper analyses the behavior of historic buildings under seismic loading. Vulnerability of historic structures with reference to their seismicity and structural and architectural characteristics located in various seismic zones on India is examined. Specifically the vulnerability of UNESCO listed monuments in India is discussed. It provides an insight on some of the methods for assessing seismic vulnerability as well as retrofitting techniques of historical constructions and their use on occurrence of an earthquake. It is stressed that Adequate timely measures can minimize the effects of aftershocks; avoid hurried demolition made under extreme pressure. The aim is to minimize damages to architectural heritage in future for posterity.

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