1. Moving towards more inclusive codes and standards for disaster reduction in
India
India has been severely affected by natural disasters in the past few decades, including several major
earthquakes and cyclones and the 2004 tsunami. These have caused a high toll of human casualties and
physical destruction, and highlighted the vulnerability of non-engineered buildings, particularly low-income
housing. The Bureau of Indian Standards has taken the initiative to produce codes and standards that
incorporate disaster mitigation for non-engineered and traditional-type buildings. These have been developed
by committees of technical experts based on contemporary research on these types of buildings. More recently,
there also has been provision for NGOs and consumer groups to participate in the formulation and revision of
standards, but it is unknown how far this has happened for construction standards yet.
The National Building Code of India – 2005 has a greater focus on disaster mitigation and on low-income and
rural housing than previous editions. Relevant Indian Standards for the protection of simple or traditional types
of buildings now include:
• IS 13827: 1993 Improving Earthquake Resistance of Earthen Buildings – Guidelines
• IS 13828: 1993 Improving Earthquake Resistance of Low Strength Masonry Buildings – Guidelines
• IS 13938: 1993 Repair and Seismic Strengthening of Buildings – Guidelines
• IS 15498: 2004 Guidelines for Improving the Cyclonic Resistance of Low Rise Houses and Other
Buildings/Structures
• IS 14804: 2000 Guidelines for Siting, Design and Selection of Materials for Residential Buildings in
Hilly Areas.
The standards have been complemented by detailed mapping of risk and hazard zones in India so that
their users can have confidence in choosing the right technology for the level of risk in an area. For further
information or sales contact: Bureau of Indian Standards, Manak Bhavan, 9 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New
Delhi 110002, India – Email: sales@bis.org.in – Web site: http://www.bis.org.in
Further information including brief summaries of standards and areas of focus for safer construction can be
found in the Status Report on Standardization Efforts in the Area of Mitigation of Natural Hazards by the Bureau
of Indian Standards and the National Disaster Management Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs (undated):
http://www.ndimindia.nic.in/WCDRDOCS/BIS.pdf and on the principles and policies for codes, standards and
regulation for land use planning and construction with respect to disaster mitigation in: Building a New Techno-
Legal Regime for Safer India, by the National Disaster Management Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs,
and the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC), undated: http://www.ndmindia.nic.in/
WCDRDOCS/Building%20a%20Techno%20Legal%20Regime.pdf
2. Regulation from the grassroots: Post-earthquake reconstruction supported by
the Coffee Growers Federation in Colombia
In January 1999 an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 struck the coffee growing districts of Western Colombia.
Although the quake was only moderate it nevertheless caused over 600 deaths and severely damaged or
destroyed many thousands of homes and coffee processing facilities. The coffee growers had one advantage:
they were well organised both locally and nationally, in the Coffee Growers Federation, a body used to provide
them with livelihood support. It now took on relief and ultimately reconstruction, though it was not technically
qualified for the latter, and hired a team of engineers to help. The federation operated a reconstruction fund
(FORECAFE), established with foreign aid and national contributions. It decided to leave decisions on the design
and technology - and standards applying to those - to the householders, but provided various types of support
to the latter. The engineers helped residents to draw up individual house plans and specifications, and the
federation provided a lot of information to its members, e.g. on earthquake resistant construction. People could
then choose whether to build their house themselves, hire contractors, or have a combination of both; there even
was an option to acquire prefabricated housing. The affected could obtain a reconstruction grant of $4,000 from
FORECAFE, plus an additional loan of $1,000 for house reconstruction. These were paid in instalments, with
the engineers checking the quality of each phase before a new instalment was released. The coffee growers were
very resourceful in using their social networks for help, salvaging components from damaged houses, combining
traditional with modern materials, and negotiating down building materials prices. They also combined the
modest grants and loans with their own savings, and were thus able to rebuild nearly 7,000 houses. In 2004, a
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