The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : `Foolproof technology can prevent manmade disaster'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 03, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

`Foolproof technology can prevent manmade disaster'

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Visvesvaraya Technological University Vice-Chancellor K. Balaveera Reddy on Thursday regretted lack of awareness among people about disaster management.

Mr. Reddy was inaugurating a national conference on "Role of civil engineers in disaster management and mitigation" organised by BMS College of Engineering here.

Mr. Reddy said lack of awareness among the masses has been a major cause for manifold adverse impact of disasters and the role of civil engineers as such assumes greater significance in this regard. Better construction technology and the use of material that can withstand natural calamities will help, and the experts should guide homebuilders in this regard, he said.

Although disasters — natural as well as manmade — cannot be averted, meticulous planning aided by latest technology can dispel the adverse impact of disasters, he said. Latest technology in the form of remote sensing satellites should be deployed to forecast natural disasters, Mr. Reddy said.

He said deployment of foolproof technology can avoid manmade disasters. Being able to anticipate a disaster even by a few hours can save many lives and minimise the impact.

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