The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Foolproof technology can prevent manmade disaster: Balaveera Reddy

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

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Foolproof technology can prevent manmade disaster: Balaveera Reddy

Staff Reporter

VTU Vice-Chancellor resents lack of awareness among people on disaster management

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.

Lack of awareness

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.

Meticulous planning

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.

Early warning systems

He said that 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.

Vulnerable regions

Along with modern construction technology, early warning systems need to be developed and made widely available in the most vulnerable regions.

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) Managing Director M.R. Sreenivasa Murthy, former Vice-Chancellor of Agricultural Sciences S. Bisalaiah, and Chairman of Board of Management of the college were present.

BMS Educational Trust Chairman C.N. Ashwathanarayana Rao presided over the function.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail