Spotlight

Scarcity of Specialists in the nation
- Be it geologists, meteorologists, archaeologists, or even vets, we just don't have the experts who matter in a crisis.
The Roland Emmerich's apocalyptic thriller 2012 reinforced a myth that Indians are excellent in science, mathematics and predictions.
Days before September 18, when a faultline beneath the Sikkim-Nepal border ruptured and sent shockwaves that swallowed villages, shook cities and made Delhi nervous , there was no Dr Satnam to warn the people of the Northeast about the disaster. True, earthquakes can't be predicted but seismologists and geologists can pick enough warning signs and make calculations about the likely period a temblor may strike particular regions. Do we have enough geologists with enough seismic data that can prepare us for future shocks? Unlikely. In January 2001, after Bhuj was hit by a 7.7 quake that killed thousands and left millions homeless across Gujarat, the tragedy revealed a truth about the state of Indian geology: across the country, there were just 19 scholars pursuing PhD in the subject.
"People are not killed by earthquakes, they are killed by buildings and our houses are most unsafe," says a scientist with the Geological Survey of India. "From the data available and signs in recent years, it's clear that a big earthquake of magnitude 7/8 is long overdue in north India, but we are not prepared. The government geologists are happy monitoring the Richter scale and announcing the intensity of the quake when it happens. That's it," says the expert who doesn't want to be named.
The apathy, according to top scientists, runs deep down the system. "Earth sciences are not taught in schools; we don't have enough departments in universities; we don't get high-quality students, and those who join the stream want to work for oil firms because of the money," says Rajendran. "When there is a tragedy, we wake up and then go back to sleep."
A cloudburst in Delhi a few days ago flooded the showpiece Terminal 3 of the international airport. But the weathermen seem to be in deep slumber. In the past one decade, the Indian Meteorology Department (IMD) hasn't recruited a single Class I officer, says an expert who has worked in the department. "It's supposed to have 500 officers, but it has only 200. We used to have a staff of 8,500; it has been reduced to 6,000. What's the point of having machines when the human resources are so poor? Compare this to China, which has 80,000 Met staff."
With freak weather looking more and more like a normal phenomenon and climate change an accepted scientific truth, the weatherman has become a rock star in the west and nature the main villain in Hollywood thrillers. Even in TV studios, the guy who reads out the weather report is often more popular than the anchor and gets the most fan mail.
India, though, is still living in the past. "Classical meteorology has gone beyond traditional boundaries to encompass aviation meteorology, marine meteorology and disaster management. We need good-quality manpower to improve weather forecast," says Dr Ajit Tyagi, director of IMD. The result: while short and medium-range forecasts are often correct, long-range weather forecasts are almost always inaccurate, and the Indian weatherman remains a butt of jokes.
Do we really use TV weather reports for planning our meetings/visits/parties etc? OR CAN WE: compare exhaustive vs barely a 'report'
Despite years of work, the Archaeological Society of India has been able to protect only 3,676 historic sites, leaving an estimated 7,00,000 heritage structures unattended. "We don't even have a good laboratory for dating archaeological samples. We don't have technical support and we are losing archaeological treasures of great historical importance," says an ASI expert who is "frustrated" with the state of affairs. "How many students want to study archaeology? It's not glamorous. Everybody wants to become a doctor or engineer and go abroad. As a people we don't respect knowledge that really helps society."
Some lessons from Chile An earthquake measuring 8.8 hit Chile in March 2010, just a few weeks after Haiti was hit by a 7.0 temblor. While the Haiti toll was more than 250,000, just 600 people died in Chile. The 2001 Bhuj quake of 7.7 magnitude claimed 20,000 lives, according to official figures. Though 9% of Chileans became homeless as their houses developed cracks, the toll remained low as the buildings didn't collapse. The reason is Chile's strict building codes. After a massive 9.5 earthquake in 1960 (the strongest ever recorded), the Chilean government developed a seismic design code for all new buildings. It was revised in 1993 to include advances in technology. The system that keeps Chile's buildings standing firm is called the "strong columns, weak beams" system.
Taken from Sunday Times, Read full article

Landslide congress to focus on Northeast
- Two-day meet in September, '11 will discuss warning system and hazard-zone mappings
The governments of the northeastern states have failed to take measures to prevent landslides despite the fact that more than 50 landslides occur every year in the region.
The Northeast has 20 per cent of the landslide-prone areas of the country.
"There is a lack of priority given to this task by the state governments. The PWDs have been entrusted with the task of restoring communication by clearing the landslides as and when they occur".
Nearly 458 landslides have taken place in the Northeast between 2001 and 2009 - yet the governments in northeastern states are not according it top priority.Major communication links are disrupted year after year in the region by landslides cutting off vital movements and supply lines.
The Geological Survey of India, the nodal agency for landslides in the country, has also prepared a hazard zone map of a number of places in the region.
Landslides in Guwahati have claimed many lives and caused a lot of destruction, displacing many people from their homes in the past. The Sonapur landslide, an old and active huge rock-cum-debris slide on National Highway 44 near Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, becomes active almost every year, particularly during the monsoon, blocking the highway, which is the lifeline of southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya.
Experts say landslides in the region mostly occur along the road-cuts - made by cutting into a hillside. These road-cuts destabilise the hillside, causing landslides that damage homes and highways. The landslips also occur in the rural and urban areas because of the construction of roads.
Landslides, studied during the past two decades, have been categorised in 10 types: (i) planar failure, (ii) wedge failure, (iii) rock fall, (iv) debris slide, (v) subsidence, (vi) minor slip, (vii) slump, (viii) creep, (ix) earthquake induced landslides and (x) unclassified.
The Tawang monastery is also facing problems as landslides triggered by rainfall has ripped away the entire chunk of landmass below it.
The National Disaster Management Authority has issued guidelines to institutionalise landslide hazard mitigation efforts, to make people aware of the various aspects of landslide hazard in the country and to prepare them to take suitable action which would reduce risks and costs associated with this hazard.
-source- The Telegraph(daily), article link

Why Study Civil Engineering?

The water you drink, the pavement you drive on, the air you breathe—the work of civil and environmental engineers literally surrounds us all. As we continue to face mounting environmental and infrastructure issues on a global scale, civil and environmental engineers of the future will have enormous impact on our communities and around the world.
The students and faculty of the department of Civil & Environmental Engineering work in a collaborative environment, with partnerships across labs and campus, as well as with government and industry partners. Your studies may(and should!) lead you into environmental science, structural research, hydraulics, soil mechanics, air and water resources or construction and transportation engineering - all a part of tomorrow's infrastructure.

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