Day 3 – Q 4. What recommendations would you make as far as land use and settlement patterns are concerned to lessen the danger from tectonic hazards? Discuss.
4. What recommendations would you make as far as land use and settlement patterns are concerned to lessen the danger from tectonic hazards? Discuss.
4.जहां तक भूमि उपयोग और आबादी के पैटर्न का समबन्ध है, आप टेक्टोनिक खतरों को कम करने के लिए क्या सिफारिश करेंगे? चर्चा करेंI
Approach:
- Introduction- Explain what constitutes tectonic hazards.
- Main body- How properly planned land use and settlement patterns can help lessen the danger of tectonic hazards.
- Conclusion
- 1-2 diagrams (rough sketch only) should be drawn as the question is from geography.
Introduction:
Tectonic hazards are hazard events caused by tectonic plates colliding into each other, moving against each other, moving apart or subduction between plates. Examples of tectonic hazards includes earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
Recommendations:
Land use planning is a major tool for reducing risks from natural hazards. Risk-based planning provides an opportunity to move beyond planning for a natural hazard only, to planning for the consequences of an event.
- Micro- Zonation of area on the basis of vulnerability in case/seismicity in case of earthquake- Delineation and demarcation of plate boundaries, plate margins and fault lines as these are the areas at risk. Any construction especially that of critical infrastructure like nuclear plants in these areas must be avoided.
- Earthquake resistant structures. Building materials used should be procured locally and construction should be based on factors like soil type (density and other factors) as well as local climate etc.
- Urban land use- Fragmented settlement to mitigate pressure on land, Evacuation zone. City expansion should be horizontal and not vertical. Further restoration work (removing or strengthening of vulnerable structures) within the city should be a continuous exercise. Parkland, shelter belts and open spaces should be an important part of city plan.
- Rules and regulations related to land segregation, zonation, building height etc. should take into account regional variation and should be implemented strictly. Zero tolerance toward illegal construction, high rise buildings etc.
- Landslides-
Afforestation in mountainous region to decrease the risk of landslides. Land use should be such that plains should be used for settlement, slopes with little inclination should be used for agricultural activities and higly inclined slopes should be covered with trees. - Tsunamis-
Rezoning of low-lying coastal land at risk from tsunamis, in association with the structural strengthening of buildings, can be an effective defence. - Sustainable land use- agricultural practices, land mining, extraction of resources etc should be sustainable. Ground water should be used judiciously.
Apart from above awareness among local population, early hazard warning systems etc can help handle the hazard by decreasing the vulnerability.
Conclusion:
Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is an integral part of social and economic development. And from above it can be concluded that land use planing is potentially powerful mitigation tool in case of natural hazards.
Further, as recognized under the Sendai Framework, though the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk, the responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government and the private sector. Empowering local government with the help of private sector (CSR, NGOs) can go a long way in making the population less vulnerable to hazards.
Best answer 1: Rohan
Best answer 2: Happy
