Civil Engineering in Disaster Management

For a country prone to disasters such as India, disaster management becomes a crucial subject. Along with capacity building, successful management also requires an understanding of the topography of the land and proper organization and planning of cities. There are thus, two broad aspects of disaster management- structural, and non- structural. Though non-structural elements have been proven vital and help in preparedness, they cannot be ranked above structural elements in terms of importance and impact. It is in this second aspect that the role of the Civil Engineer comes in. Sadly, however, literature on this topic is often found lacking. This paper is a humble attempt to fill this lacuna, and focuses on the interrelationship between disaster management and civil engineering. It includes a brief introduction about the disasters in the country and the role played by specific civil engineers. The Gujarat Earthquake of 2001 has been studied, with particular emphasis on the manner in which the use of modern technologies such as base isolation methods, and a greater stress on forensic and earthquake engineering could have reduced the damage. Structural flood control measures have also been analyzed along with a case study on the flooding of the Brahmaputra. Even after half a century of flood control measures, the river is yet to be controlled. Reasons for this failure have been cited, and channelization of the river as a possible solution proposed. Occurrences of landslides can also be reduced by implication of studies conducted by geotechnical and hydraulic engineers. In the paper, latest developments in technologies which support civil engineering in disaster management, have been looked into.