HUDCO's disaster rehabilitation initiatives

NEW DELHI: State-owned Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) has chalked out a comprehensive plan for post-disaster rehabilitation that includes building disaster-resistant houses and increasing people's participation in planning their houses and villages or cities.

"With collapse of houses and buildings accounting for loss of about 80 per cent human lives, HUDCO has taken a number of initiatives to propagate disaster-resistant houses which can withstand the fury of natural disasters," said, its chairman and managing director P S Rana.

He said while occurrence of these natural disasters cannot be prevented altogether, their adverse impact can be reduced susbtantially by undertaking various preparedness and mitigation measures both by organisations and community involvement.

"Minimising the loss of precious human lives is the first priority in disaster management," he said, adding that HUDCO has taken a number of initiatives to propagate designs of disaster-resistant houses in vulnerable areas and to train artisans and masons through their building centres.