ROLE OF VOLUNTARY TEAMS OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS IN DISSATER MANAGEMENT – EXPERIENCES FROM GUJARAT EARTHQUAKE

Sreenivas Sarma Paraitham, Narayan Rao Devarashetty

Abstract: Post disaster works are of great significance and need, in any part of the globe. While these works are attempted with lot of strategic planning in the developed countries, emotion, excitement coupled with lack of a professional approach to the problem , are often seen in the developing countries , resulting in furthering the ill effects of the disaster . Earthquake hit areas are known to witness this kind of situation, attracting unprecedented rush of unrelated persons, only to add to the chaos . Professional engineers have a role to play in this context and must volunteer themselves in order to contribute for the disaster management and execute appropriate post-disaster work. This paper presents the experiences of the authors as members of a voluntary professional team that visited Gujarat after the devastating earthquake of 26th January, 2001.The various challenges faced by the professional engineers, both technical and nontechnical , are highlighted and the efforts made to overcome them are narrated . The technical challenges include the seismic retrofitting measures to be adopted for non-engineered constructions and reversal and replacement of inadequate and inappropriate retrofitting measures by adequate and appropriate ones. The non-technical challenges include accessing the authorities, convincing them about the need for suitable retrofitting strategies and making them evolve policies for emergency reconstruction and rehabilitation .An overview of the various reasons for the very occurrence of the disaster , is also presented . In all, it is emphasized that the professional engineers have a key role to play in the disaster management and must volunteer to act to meet the need of the hour

Keywords: Post disaster works, Earthquake hit areas, Role of professional engineers, Disaster management

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0328017