NRI professor offers expertise for relief work

A professor of construction engineering and management in US has offered his expertise to undertake tsunami relief work.

A professor of construction engineering and management at Western Michigan University, US, has offered his technical and managerial expertise to undertake relief work in tsunami affected areas in Tamil Nadu.

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In a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, Professor Jawahar Nesan, an NRI, has said that he would be able to help with the techniques of fast-track construction and programme management, especially at a time when the victims needed basic facilities like water, sanitation, housing and transportation quickly.

"We must adopt just-in-time and lean techniques so that speedy infrastructure recovery could be achieved in the affected areas," he said.

He also offered assistance by establishing an advisory technical council, comprising world-class voluntary experts, in disciplines like water, roads, housing and sanitation.

Nesan, from Sirkali near Nagapattinam, said he could stay in India for five months a year and mobilise villagers at the grass-root level to achieve the mission of participation in nation building.

The Indian construction industry, he said, was not prepared to face the challenges for building infrastructure in affected areas on a war-footing, like other developed nations.