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Technical Advisory on Seismic Resilience of Power Infrastructure in Guhawati City

This project, completed in 2023, aimed to address the seismic vulnerability of Guwahati’s power infrastructure, given the city’s high earthquake risk due to its location in a seismically active zone, challenging topography, and large stock of unsafe buildings. As a critical hub for emergency response across Assam and the Northeast, Guwahati required a resilient power network to ensure continuity of essential services in the aftermath of a major earthquake.

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The World Bank engaged GHI, in partnership with the Geohazards Society, Assam Engineering College, the Department of Earthquake Research and Risk, and NORSAR, Norway, to carry out this technical assessment. The work focused on all the wards under the Guwahati Municipal Corporation, primarily examining transmission and distribution assets. GHI began by mapping these assets and preparing an analytical summary of their typologies and locations within the GMC area. This information formed the basis for modelling the performance of selected assets under various seismic scenarios, supported by site visits for data collection and validation.


Building on this analysis, the team assessed the potential impact of power disruptions on critical facilities such as hospitals, fire stations, and government buildings, which are essential for emergency response. For each of the three identified sites, case studies were developed to illustrate the nature of service disruption and the estimated restoration times under different earthquake scenarios.

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Drawing from these findings, GHI prepared a set of overarching recommendations to strengthen preparedness, introduce mitigation measures, and improve response and recovery planning in the power sector. These recommendations proposed actions to reduce restoration time, including improved repair planning, redundancies, and medium- to long-term resilience strategies.


The project concluded with a knowledge-sharing consultation involving ASDMA, AEGCL, APDCL, and the World Bank team, where the key findings and recommendations were presented and refined based on stakeholder feedback. The final output was a comprehensive Vulnerability Assessment Report, featuring the technical analysis, three service-impact case studies, and a roadmap of options for building seismic resilience in Guwahati’s power infrastructure.


Project Partners

  • Assam Power Distribution Corporation Limited (APDCL)

  • Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA)

  • Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Limited (AEGCL)

  • Department of Earthquake Research and Risk, NORSAR, Norway

  • Assam Engineering College, Guwahati

  • GeoHazards Society

  • Guwahati Medical College & Hospital

  • State Emergency Operating Centre, Assam

  • District Disaster Management Authority, Kamrup Metropolitan District


Project funding

  • World Bank task team, India

  • The Japan-Bank Program for Mainstreaming DRM in Developing Countries

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