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Amit Mitra

MUMBAI, April 17

THE NGO volunteer walks cautiously towards the precariously balanced concrete structure in a remote hamlet in Latur district a day after the region was battered by earthquake some years ago.

He had no idea if the damaged structure would come crashing down on him if he went any closer and neither could he just stand there staring at the devastated spectacle.

This kind of dilemma had been faced by thousands of relief workers, comprising Government officials, health workers, paramedical staff and NGO volunteers, in the country's post-disaster relief operations so far.

The reason — they did not have the expertise of a civil, mechanical, structural, geological or electrical engineer.

But, hereafter, post-disaster relief operations in the country will be more efficient, as this gap in expertise is now being sought to be filled by the country's corporate giants in the construction, engineering and logistics sectors.

The non-technical relief workers will now be backed by men and machine to be deployed by construction and logistics companies such as Hindustan Construction Co, L&T, Gammon, PCP International, Punj Lloyd, Jaiprakash Industries and Shapoorji Pallonji.

Corporate companies in the engineering, construction, transport and logistics sectors, led by HCC, have decided to form a disaster resource network (DRN) to provide resources such as skilled manpower, technical know-how and equipment in an organised manner for disaster relief works.

In fact, DRN is a world-wide initiative promoted by the World Economic Forum (WEF), with India and Mexico being the two pilot projects initiated by it.

In India, the Construction Federation of India (CFI), under the aegis of the CII, is taking the initiative forward.

"We already have in place the first batch of 100 volunteers from these corporate companies — they even comprise officials at the level of general managers and senior executives, including women. Several companies are coming forward to join this programme and are willing to sponsor their equipment and officials for a period of one to four weeks after any disaster strikes,'' Mr Pawan Kant, a senior official of HCC and coordinator of the DRN programme, told Business Line.

The network of construction and logistics companies is currently in the process of identifying a training organisation from India or overseas to provide training to volunteers, which is likely to start by May or June this year.

The training programme will be covering various aspects of field participation and structural training, such as failures of structures and bracing and shoring needs.

The programme managers are also preparing a document that will underline the space for corporate and industry participation in relief operations in regard to engineering, construction and logistic support.

In fact, Gammon India has already initiated a move to set up a Web site and develop the database of resources of the DRN programme.

Some potential areas of participation in rescue operations that have been broadly identified include skilled deployment of construction equipment such as earthmoving, drilling and cutting machines; on-field evaluation of a team of experts for demolition/bracing of precarious structures; project management, supply chain and warehousing; rapid camp deployment, re-laying of emergency electrical and water supply lines; establishing emergency communications network through satellites and acting as a clearing house for international and domestic aid workers.

"By the end of this year, DRN's first batch of volunteers will be ready to swing into action with their expertise and equipment of the DRN's corporate members in the event of a disaster,'' Mr Kant said.

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