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Seismic vulnerability assessment of nearly 67%, 60%, and 18% of buildings of the first responders (Fire and Emergency Service, Police, and local administration, respectively) in the Himalayan province of Uttarakhand in India suggests 14.12% collapse, and 67.19% damage, and put to disuse immediately after an earthquake. This is to seriously limit emergency response capability of the state, and enhance sufferings and trauma of the affected community. US$ 95.27 is estimated as the cost of seismic safety of emergency response infrastructure, and this is to save building contents worth US$ 10.00 million. Prioritised demolition and reconstruction of Grade 5 buildings, detailed vulnerability assessment and phased retrofitting of Grade 4 and Grade 3 buildings, effective and strict compliance of building bye-laws, stringent punitive measures for lapses in lifeline buildings, mechanism for routine vulnerability assessment, and corrective maintenance are recommended for ensuring smooth and uninterrupted functioning of the emergency response agencies in the aftermath of an earthquake.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to estimate the cost of seismic resilience of identified vulnerable lifeline public buildings in earthquake-prone Himalayan province of Uttarakhand in India. Design/methodology/approach Built area of the identified vulnerable lifeline buildings together with prevalent rate of construction has been considered for assessing the cost of seismic resilience while improvised rapid visual screening (RVS) technique, better suited to the built environment in the region, has been used for assessing seismic vulnerability. Findings Investment of US$250.08m is assessed as being required for ensuring seismic safety of 56.3, 62.1, 52.9, 64.6, 71.9 and 61.7% surveyed buildings, respectively, of fire and emergency services, police, health, education, local administration and other departments that are to become non-functional after an earthquake and result in a major socio-political turmoil. A total amount of US$467.71m is estimated as being required for making all the buildings of these departments seismically resilient. Research limitations/implications Actual investment estimates and reconstruction/retrofitting plans have to be prepared after detailed investigations as RVS technique only provides a preliminary estimate and helps in prioritising buildings for detailed investigations. Practical implications This study is intended to provide a snapshot of the state of seismic vulnerability together with the financial resources required for corrective measures. This is to help the authorities in planning phased mobilisation of financial and technical resources for making the built environment seismically resilient. Social implications This study is to bring forth awareness on this important issue and consequent public opinion in favour of safety of public facilities to ensure allocation of appropriate financial resources together with changes in techno-legal regime for the cause of earthquake safety. At the same time, this study is to motivate masses to voluntarily assess safety of their neighbourhood and undertake corrective measures. Originality/value This study is based on primary data collected by the authors.

Vulnerability assessment of 36% healthcare facilities in the province of Uttarakhand that has high probability of witnessing a large magnitude earthquake in near future reveals 67.02% to be put to disuse immediately after an earthquake. Healthcare facilities in Pithoragarh, Haridwar, Almora, Tehri Garhwal, Champawat and Nainital districts are observed to be particularly vulnerable and this is to make mobilisation of medical response a major challenge and result in escalated loss of human lives, enhanced trauma of the earthquake affected population and consequent civil discontent. The earthquake is estimated to cause economic loss of US$ 37.06 million to the surveyed health infrastructure alone. An investment of US$ 17.94 million is assessed as being required for ensuring seismic resilience in the surveyed health infrastructure which in turn is estimated to save critical medical instruments and facilities worth US$ 19.12 million that would otherwise be lost under collapsing buildings. Having identified non-compliance of building codes, poor quality of construction and lack of maintenance as being the factors enhancing vulnerability of healthcare infrastructure it is recommended to undertake measures for (i) prioritised demolition and reconstruction of Grade 5 buildings, (ii) detailed assessment and phased retrofitting of Grade 4 and Grade 3 buildings, (iii) effective and strict compliance of building bye-laws, (iv) stringent punitive measures for life threatening lapses in public buildings, (v) mechanism for routine vulnerability assessment and corrective maintenance of public buildings, and (vi) making disaster safety a precondition for operating any healthcare facility and linking it to their licensing.

Seismic vulnerability assessment of around 63.87% of the state owned school buildings in the Himalayan province of Uttarakhand in India that falls in identified high earthquake risk zone; Zone V and Zone IV of Earthquake Zoning Map of India, reveals 78.51% to be put to disuse immediately after an earthquake. Particularly high vulnerability of school buildings in Haridwar, Bageshwar, Pithoragarh and Almora districts of the province is to pose challenges of various sort on the aftermath of a major earthquake incidence. Based on damageability assessment of the surveyed buildings earthquake is estimated to result in losses to the tune of US$ 219.55 million to the surveyed school infrastructure alone. An investment of US$ 206.42 million is estimated for ensuring seismic safety of the surveyed school buildings by way of demolition and reconstruction of Grade 5 buildings (US$ 52.50 million) and seismic retrofitting of buildings falling in Grade 4 (US$ 107.29 million) and Grade 3 (US$ 46.62 million). US$ 323.19 million is estimated as being the cost of ensuring seismic safety of all state owned schools in the province.

Seismic vulnerability of around 67, 60, 36, 23 and 18% buildings of Fire and Emergency Service, Police, hospital, school and local administration respectively in the earthquake prone Uttarakhand province located in Indian Himalaya has been assessed using Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) methodology. The study suggests that 71.86% of the surveyed local administration buildings, 64.58% schools, 62.08% Police stations, 56.25% Fire and Emergency Service stations and 52.86% hospitals together with 61.68% buildings of other departments would be put to disuse immediately after an earthquake that would pose challenges of various sort in mobilising resources for search, rescue and emergency healthcare together with relief and restoration as the remaining facilities would be highly overburdened. The study highlights poor quality of construction, lack of maintenance and non-compliance of safety standards as the main reasons enhancing vulnerability of the surveyed buildings. It is therefore recommended to undertake prioritised, planned and prompt demolition and reconstruction of Grade 5 buildings and detailed assessment and retrofitting of Grade 4 and Grade 3 buildings besides introducing measures for routine maintenance of public infrastructure and ensuring seismic safety provisions in these.