In late 2025, the Bureau of Indian Standards unveiled India's biggest update to earthquake-resistant building codes in decades — a revised...

In late 2025, the Bureau of Indian Standards unveiled India's biggest update to earthquake-resistant building codes in decades — a revised seismic zonation map that placed the entire Himalayan arc in a freshly created top-risk category, informed by data from 180 seismic observatories (up from 80 a decade ago). On March 3, 2026, BIS withdrew the entire notification. The reason? Engineers and developers said defending against earthquake damage did not adequately account for costs and practicality. Geologists are now warning that the reversal could weaken disaster resilience in one of the most seismically active regions on Earth, but they were apparently outlobbied by people whose primary concern is that making buildings survive earthquakes cuts into profit margins. The Himalayan tectonic plates, which did not submit a cost-benefit analysis, continue operating on their own schedule regardless.