Santa is proudly watching his son, Raju, bossing around a couple of labourers as they mix concrete for a new room.
Raju learned his “skills” by working for a few months with a small-time local contractor who did various odd construction jobs.
“Look at my Raju, Banta!” Santa beams.
“A proper ‘engineer‘ he has become!”
“No need to hire those expensive city fellows.”
“He knows all about ‘lanter‘, ‘seria’, everything!”
“He says he learned it all on the job, watching and doing.”
“Practical knowledge, Banta, that’s what counts!”
Banta observes the way the steel rods for the columns are being tied – some are too far apart, the connecting stirrups are flimsy and incorrectly bent.
The concrete mix looks a bit too watery.
“Raju is indeed an enterprising young man, Santa,” Banta says carefully.
“And learning by doing is certainly a part of gaining experience.”
“But when it comes to building a house that needs to withstand the forces of our Himalayan earth, especially with materials like cement and steel whose strength depends entirely on precise mixing, placement, and reinforcement, ‘watching and doing’ under an uncertified contractor might not be enough.”
“It can sometimes be a recipe for code of confusion rather than a code of construction.”
“Code of confusion?” Santa asks, his pride slightly pricked.
“What do you mean?”
“Raju says he knows how much cement to put!”
“Knowing how much cement to put is one thing, Santa,” Banta explains.
“But does he know the exact water-cement ratio for maximum strength?”
“The correct size and spacing of steel rods for different loads?”
“The proper way to bend and tie those stirrups to hold the main rods together during an earthquake, so the column doesn’t burst?”
“The importance of ‘tarai‘ for many days so it gains its full strength?”
“These are not things one learns perfectly just by casual observation.”
“These are precise scientific principles written in our ‘National Building Code‘ and detailed in engineering manuals.”
He continues, “The problem, Santa, is that we don’t have many easily accessible, formal ‘mistri–pathshalas‘ or ‘bar-bender vidyalayas‘ in our hills that teach these modern techniques properly and certify skilled workers.”
“So, many learn, like Raju, from others who themselves might have incomplete or incorrect knowledge.”
“This ‘on-the-job’ learning, without a strong foundation of certified training, can lead to houses that look modern and strong, but may have hidden weaknesses that only a real tremor will reveal.”
Santa looks at Raju, who is now arguing with a labourer about the water in the concrete.
“So, my ‘engineer‘ son might be building a house that looks like a ‘Bodybuilder Pehelwan‘ on the outside, but has weak bones on the inside?”
“It’s a risk, Santa,” Banta says gravely.
“And it’s not just about individual houses.”
“We need our Panchayats and the government to insist on, and help provide, proper training and certification for our local builders.”
“We also need building bye-laws that are not just copied from city plans but are realistic for our hills, easy to understand, and then, very importantly, enforced with the help of trained local overseers.”
“Right now, it often feels like everyone is building as they please, and the ‘codes‘ are just suggestions that few understand or follow.”
Santa sighs. “So, we need trained teachers for our builders, and clear, sensible rulebooks that everyone follows.”
“Otherwise, our ‘modern’ Himalaya might just be a collection of pretty-looking but fragile boxes waiting for a big shake.”
“That’s a scary thought, Banta.”
“Perhaps Raju should attend a proper workshop if the government ever organizes one.”
संता – बंता की इस जुगलबन्दी से आज हमने क्या सीखा:-
- आधुनिक निर्माण तकनीकों (आरसीसी और सरिया बांधने) में राजमिस्त्रियों और कारीगरों के लिये औपचारिक प्रशिक्षण और प्रमाणन (सर्टिफिकेशन) की कमी एक बहुत बड़ी कमजोरी है / Lack of institutionalized training and certification for masons and bar benders in modern construction techniques (RCC, steel) is a major vulnerability.
- बिना किसी ठोस तकनीकी और व्यावहारिक ज्ञान के केवल ‘काम करते-करते सीखने‘ से निर्माण में गंभीर गलतियाँ हो सकती हैं, जो इमारतों की सुरक्षा को खतरे में डालती हैं / “On-the-job” learning without a sound theoretical and practical foundation can lead to critical errors in construction, compromising safety.
- भवन निर्माण संहिता (Building Codes) और उप-नियम पहाड़ी क्षेत्रों की भौगोलिक परिस्थितियों के अनुकूल और व्यावहारिक होने चाहिये, जिन्हें सरल भाषा में आम लोगों तक पहुँचाया और सख्ती से लागू किया जाना चाहिये / Building codes and bye-laws need to be realistic, context-specific for hilly regions, widely disseminated in simple language, and consistently enforced.
- सुरक्षित और मजबूत निर्माण सुनिश्चित करने के लिये निर्माण क्षेत्र में काम करने वाले कारीगरों के व्यावसायिक प्रशिक्षण (Vocational Training) में निवेश करना अत्यन्त आवश्यक है / Investment in vocational training for the construction sector is crucial for ensuring quality and safety in the built environment.
संता – बंता की यह जुगलबन्दी आपको कैसी लगी, कृपया हमें जरुर बताये
व
इस जुगलबन्दी को बेहतर बनाने के लिये अपने सुझाव अवश्य दें।
हमें हमेशा की तरह आपके सुझावों, प्रतिक्रियाओं व कटाक्षो का बेसब्री से इंतजार रहता हैं औरसच मानिये इसी के आधार पर हम अपने आप में, अपनी सोच व रचनात्मकता में सुधार करने कोप्रेरित होते हैं।
सो अच्छा – बुरा जैसा आपको महसूस हुवा हो, कमेंट जरुर करते रहें।
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