Land use zoning as a tool for larger safety - Ved Mittal

“Land use zoning is a tool for larger safety. Identify organic and unplanned human settlements and frame Land Use Zoning regulations as a part of development plans.” - Ved Mittal, Architect Planner, New Delhi, India

Most of the human settlements, urban or rural, located along the coastal areas or rivers are prone to heavy damages and loss of human lives from flooding either by Tsunami, cyclone or heavy rains. The case of Australia, Kashmir in India, Japan or elsewhere in the World is an eye opener. In Japan, in spite of early warning, the loss was colossal.

Such human settlements have developed organically or have been planned without identifying the natural hazard prone areas. It is imperative to identify such areas and frame Land Use Zoning Regulations as part of the development plans.

In India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India constituted a Committee of experts to suggest measures for flood prone areas. These are as follows:

Approach for land use zoning:  Having identified the hazard prone areas the following alternatives can be adopted for dealing with the disaster risk problems.

•         Leave the area unprotected. In this case it will be necessary to specify Land Use Zoning for various development purposes.
•          Use protection methods for the areas as a whole or in the construction of buildings, structures and infrastructure facilities to cater for the hazard intensities likely in the planning area.
•          Prioritise buildings, structures and infrastructures in terms of their importance from the point of view of impact of damage.

Prioritisation: In regard to Land Use Zoning, different types of buildings and utility services are grouped under three priorities as indicated below.

•         Priority 1. Defence installation, industries, public utilities, life line structures like hospitals, electricity installations, water supply, telephone exchange, aerodromes and railway stations; commercial centres, libraries, other buildings or installations with contents of high economic value.
•          Priority 2. Public and Semi Public institutions, Government offices, and residential areas.
•          Priority 3. Parks, play grounds, wood lands, gardens, green belts, and recreational area.

Recommendations for Land Use Zoning of Flood Prone Areas: Prepare flood contour maps and create regulations for land use zoning

For structures, buildings and installations which cannot be avoided in natural hazard prone areas identified under the land use zoning regulations, protective measures for such construction/ development should be properly safeguarded.