Govt announces Subhash Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2021

Rajendra Kumar Bhandari, who laid the foundation of scientific studies on geo hazards, was on Saturday selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar for 2021 for his work in disaster management.

In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs said while Bhandari has been selected in the individual category of the award, the Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) has been picked for the award in the institutional category for the year.

The award is announced every year on January 23, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs five lakh and a certificate in case of an individual.

The award is given to recognise and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organisations in India in the field of disaster management by the central government, the statement said.

For the award this year, nominations were solicited from July 1, 2020 onwards. In response to the award scheme, 371 valid nominations were received from institutions and individuals.

For the year 2021, Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (in the institutional category) and Rajendra Kumar Bhandari (in the individual category) have been selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar for their excellent work in disaster management, the statement said.

SEEDS has done commendable work in building community resilience to disasters. It has been working towards disaster readiness, response, and rehabilitation, building local capacities and enabling risk reduction at the community level in different states, it said.

With a deep understanding of their contexts, local leaders have a unique ability to reach excluded communities, who lack access or fall outside the gambit of large-scale programming, the statement said.

Local leaders often possess the capacity to innovate and have a strong understanding of local systems, politics, and culture, it added.

Recognising the importance of local leaders, SEEDS actively engages in their capacity building to reduce the vulnerabilities in their communities, the ministry said.

SEEDS has worked on school safety in several states by enabling community leaders and teachers in identifying, assessing, and managing risks in their own local communities, the statement said.

Bhandari is among the pioneers in India who laid the foundation of scientific studies on geo hazards in general and landslides in particular.

He established India's first laboratory on landslide studies at CSIR-Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), and three other centres.

He also conducted studies on disasters in India, deployed latest technologies of Ground Penetrating Radar; Geotechnical Digital System; vibrating wire Piezometers; Laser Particle Analyser; Pile Drive Analyser and Acoustic Emission Technology for in-depth investigations, instrumentation, monitoring and risk analysis for early warning against Landslides.

Pace-setting examples so created demonstrated organic connection between scientific investigations and engineering interventions for disaster resilient human habitat and highways, the statement said.