President Eresin attended the "Istanbul Earthquake Mobilization Plan" meeting organized by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality...

Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu announced the "Istanbul Earthquake Mobilization Plan." The meeting, held with the participation of TÜROB President Müberra Eresin, public and private sector representatives, scientists and members of the press, was also attended by Istanbul Planning Agency President Emrah Şahan, IMM Deputy Secretary General Dr. Buğra Gökçe, KİPTAŞ General Manager Ali Kurt, IMM Deputy Secretary General Pelin Alpkökin, İSKİ General Manager Dr. Şafak Başa, İGDAŞ General Manager Dr. Mithat Bülent Özmen, Head of the Department of Environmental Protection and Control PROF. DR. Ayşe Erdinçler, IMM Deputy Secretary General Mahir Polat and IMM Secretary General Can Akın Çağlar.

The revisions envisaged on planning-related matters;

a) The principles governing the preparation and especially the amendment of zoning plans should be reconsidered within the framework of the public interest principle.
b) Zoning plans prepared before 1999 and still in force should be revised in accordance with up-to-date geological and geotechnical studies.
c) The powers granted to the Ministry under Law No. 6306 on the Transformation of Areas Under Disaster Risk should also be granted to metropolitan municipalities.
d) For medium- and large-scale investments and construction in all cities at risk of disaster, primarily Istanbul, an ‘Urban Disaster and Risk Impact Assessment’ should be carried out and a regulation regarding this should be drawn up.
e) Assembly Areas, Temporary Shelter Areas and Primary Evacuation Corridors should be marked on zoning plans. Making plan changes regarding these should be prohibited.
f) During the Court of Accounts’ (Sayıştay) periodic audits, the implementation of a specialized audit regarding urban zoning rents should be initiated.
g) An Istanbul Law focused on preparing Istanbul for earthquakes should be enacted. Pre-disaster planning and site selection stages, the strengthening and renewal of structures, and disaster response and disaster management processes should be managed with the special powers provided by this law.

The revisions envisaged on matters relating to risky building inspection are as follows:

a) Under our legislation, risky building analyses and demolition, strengthening or reconstruction processes should be able to be carried out ex officio by municipalities in a manner that prioritizes the safety of life and property. In such applications, the basic principle should be structured within the framework of public and neighborly law in a way that does not victimize citizens either.
b) Building identity cards showing the project alterations and all kinds of structural and physical interventions of the building should be determined within the periods specified in the regulation to be issued, and announced in digital form and at building entrances through a QR code application.
c) Rapid building screening should be introduced into the regulation as the stage preceding risky building analysis, the vulnerability of the entire building stock to earthquakes should be determined by this method, and the provisions of Law No. 6306 should be applied for those deemed appropriate to be referred to risky building analysis.
d) Additional provisions should be incorporated into the legislation so that risk screening for industrial structures and facilities, as well as all enterprises that could cause a secondary disaster, is carried out by their owners and submitted to municipalities, and so that risk reduction action plans regarding the identified risks are implemented without delay.