Workshop on disaster risk assessment of Bank Square

Chitkara School of Planning and Architecture organized a workshop on Risk assessment of the Bank Square Area of Sector 17, Chandigarh, for two days.

The aim of the workshop was to assess disaster risks in the buildings and spaces in and around the Bank Square, thus applying and testing the theory learnt in this subject of disaster risk assessment. The study was carried out through on site observation, interviews with bank officials, fire officers, and people from municipality.

The workshop was conducted by Ar. Niyati jigyasu, Ar. Kanika Bansal with Ar. Ankita Sood and 90 students of the seventh semester participated in the event.

Sector 17 has been planned as a cultural, commercial as well as an administrative centre of the city beautiful. The case study area is part of the southern zone reserved for the District Administration and is home to all important nationalised banks and other offices.

This results in high density of people and vehicles making it vulnerable to various types of hazards like fire, theft, etc.

Documentation for various issues related to the subject was also carried out. Initial observations showed that some banks were well informed and equipped for the main hazard they anticipate, the fire and theft/burglary but many others are not. In fact, a major rethought needs to be done at site level, where it is almost impossible to manoeuvre a car, let alone a fire engine.