A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Town Planning after the 1934 Bihar-Nepal Earthquake : Earthquake-safety, colonial improvements and the restructuring of urban space in Bihar
This article addresses urban reconstruction in Bihar after the 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquake by arguing that the aftermath became an opportunity for the local government to implement town planning according to ideas of urban improvements guiding sanitation, engineering and control of spaces since the late nineteenth century in colonial India. While earthquake safety surfaced as a central aim of town planning, the local government used the reconstruction phase to improve sanitation facilities, widen roads and restructure plots in bazaars of the three worst affected towns—Monghyr, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur. Arguably, sanitation engineering with more spaced and simpler structures in effect meant buildings less likely to kill people in future earthquakes. Congestion and overpopulation were blamed for the many deaths in the bazaars but the same factors were also seen as the major cause of “insanitary” conditions according to town planners and the government officials incharge of the planning process. Wider roads and lanes, and more sparsely populated areas and lower houses were measures likely to prevent deaths on the same scale in case an earthquake visited again.
Town Planning after the 1934 Bihar-Nepal Earthquake : Earthquake-safety, colonial improvements and the restructuring of urban space in Bihar
This article addresses urban reconstruction in Bihar after the 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquake by arguing that the aftermath became an opportunity for the local government to implement town planning according to ideas of urban improvements guiding sanitation, engineering and control of spaces since the late nineteenth century in colonial India. While earthquake safety surfaced as a central aim of town planning, the local government used the reconstruction phase to improve sanitation facilities, widen roads and restructure plots in bazaars of the three worst affected towns—Monghyr, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur. Arguably, sanitation engineering with more spaced and simpler structures in effect meant buildings less likely to kill people in future earthquakes. Congestion and overpopulation were blamed for the many deaths in the bazaars but the same factors were also seen as the major cause of “insanitary” conditions according to town planners and the government officials incharge of the planning process. Wider roads and lanes, and more sparsely populated areas and lower houses were measures likely to prevent deaths on the same scale in case an earthquake visited again.
Town Planning after the 1934 Bihar-Nepal Earthquake : Earthquake-safety, colonial improvements and the restructuring of urban space in Bihar
Marcussen, Eleonor (author)
2017-01-01
Studies in Nepali History and Society, 1025-5109, 2017, 22:2, s. 321-354
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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