3 day training programme

Vellore: Scientists, professors and engineers are taking part in a three-day training programme on “Geomatics in Natural Disaster Management”, which began at the Vellore Institute of Technology University here on Monday.

The participants are from the Department of Science and Technology, Bharathidasan University, Border Roads Organisation, Structural Engineering Research Centre, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Defence Terrain Research Laboratory, National Institute of Disaster Management, Central Building Research Institute and other institutions N. Vinod Chandra Menon, Member, National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India, inaugurated the programme, organised jointly by the Centre for Disaster Mitigation and Management (CDMM), VIT University, and the Centre for Remote Sensing, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchi. Prof. Menon released a CD-ROM on the title, “Learn to Live with Lightning”.G. Viswanathan, Chancellor of the VITU, said that in India, there was a breed of disaster managers, who knew little about geomatics.

There were also a large number of specialists in geomatics, who did not know much about natural disasters. Such training programmes would go a long way in correcting the situation, he pointed out.R.K. Bhandari, chairman, CDMM, underscored the challenge that lies ahead in finding reliable and cost-effective solutions for practical problems in disaster management, using the flood of new knowledge and emerging technologies.