Tamil Nadu   

‘India has a long way to go in construction industry’

— PHOTO: M. GOVARTHAN.

Construction industry in India may be booming and investments flowing in but then it has a long way to go as far as professional management of the industry goes. And, the civil engineering syllabi too has to undergo change, says Sheikh Mohammed, head, Structural Design Division of the Dubai-based ASCON.

He shares his views with Karthik Madhavan on changes he likes to see in the industry. Though funds are flowing in and multi-national players are entering the market, there is no construction code in force.

“Construction code is a must because it lays down rules and procedures in black and white for the industry to follow. It also lets the Government intervene by monitoring compliance of rules, which pave way for quality construction." Today, in the absence of such a code, anybody and everybody is in to construction. There are people with no professional qualification executing projects. This may not necessarily be the case with big buildings, but then there are a number such persons in small projects, particularly in housing sector." This does not happen in Dubai, other Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the West, where strict rules are in place. There is a regulatory authority in place to oversee construction." The authorities also monitor the personnel who execute projects. Further, the monitoring authority also verifies the construction to see if it is according to the plan approved. This happens till the building is completed. And, in United Arab Emi-rates, the authority tests all horizontal structures that are used in construction. The civil engineer suggests that India better have a code in place to achieve a certain degree of professionalism. The second issue Mr. Mohammed highlights is deadlines. “It is almost impossible to see a project stretching beyond the deadline because right at the planning stage lot of thought goes into executing projects, which ensures there is no delay." “In fact, the construction industry in the Gulf spends more time in planning than execution," he adds and points out those delays are met with legal suits. In India, however, almost all projects overshoot deadlines, which is the reason for cost overruns. As far as Government-related projects here are concerned there is political inter-ference, which again is absent in developed countries, he avers. Mr. Mohammed, who has masters in Structural Engineering from the United Kingdom, says in addition to changes in the industry, he likes to see some in civil engineering education as well. “The civil engineering curriculum is antiquated and is of very little relevance, given the pace of change in the industry." He suggests a new curriculum with emphasis on project management. “When I completed my bachelors in civil engineering there was just a paper or two on project management. Today, however, it cannot be the case because the subject has come to occupy an important place in the industry." He wants masters for the same. The reason, Mr. Mohammed says, he suggests project management because that is where Indian engineers are found wanting. Further, the academia should focus on research. Quite often in the West, you see academia working on problems industries face and come up with suggestions. India needs to develop such a model, so that both the industry and academia grow.

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