IIT-D to host 5th World Disaster Management meet

New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi is set to host the 5th edition of World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM-2021) from November 24 to 27. The premiere institute is hosting its first major event in physical space post the outbreak of the pandemic wherein Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to inaugurate the 4 days affair.

The WCDM-2021 is being hosted jointly by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Disaster Management Initiatives and Convergence Society (DMICS), along with other academic and scientific institutions.

Professor V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi, said, "There are over 500 technical presentations and all the world's leading experts on disaster management will be taking part either virtually or in person during this event. There will also be an exhibition on disaster management."

The institute's director emphasised on the need to focus on betterment of disaster management as the world is experiencing both natural and man-made occurrences. "Even in India if you have noticed, floods happening frequently in places which haven't seen floods in the last 50 years such as Uttarakhand and other areas. Use of technology in mitigating disasters, understanding the cause and the financial implication and capacity of building resilience to these disasters as a country, is becoming more important for us," Ramgopal added.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari is also scheduled to be present at the event on November 27. According to the organisers, 500 people from different academic and institutional background will take part in person whereas 5,000 participants from India and around the globe will join virtually. Apart from 40 technical sessions, 230 full-length research papers from scientific disciplines such as engineering, medical, agriculture, social science and management science will also be submitted on the 5th edition. The first edition of the WCDM was held in Hyderabad and later in Vizag and Mumbai.

Dr SK Joshi, senior scientist, DRDO said that the technological efforts undertaken during pandemic period will be showcased at the 5th edition of WCDM-2021 as the agency had actively worked on Covid-19 solutions including sanitiser machine, ventilators, face masks and PPE kits.

"We understood that there is problem of mask and PPEs which are the basic requirement of any frontline worker. The challenge is that India has low production capacity of both masks and PPEs. There were other challenges of prevention, testing and cure. So, DRDO has worked on all three areas. In WCDM, DRDO is placing some technical papers also and some papers on the management side of the pandemic," Dr. Joshi said.

Dr PG Dhar Chakrabarti, Chairman, Scientific and Technical Committee told Bizz Buzz that the top three research papers will be awarded for their work and the topper will receive an amount of Rs 1 lakh.