Rajendra Kumar Bhandari selected for Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday announced the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar for this year and Rajendra Kumar Bhandari has been selected in an individual category along with Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) in the institutional category for the invaluable contribution and selfless service in India in the field of Disaster Management.

"The annual award is announced every year on January 23, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs 5 lakh and a certificate in case of an individual," read an official release.

The ministry informed that the Bhandari and SEEDS were among 371 valid nominations received from institutions and individuals.

For the award this year, nominations were solicited from July 1 last year onwards.

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 the different states of India.

"In the aftermath of earthquakes in India (2001, 2005, 2015), SEEDS had mobilised a group of building masons who are adept in carrying out disaster-resistant construction. These masons have become ambassadors in local communities across several emergencies in multiple States. SEEDS has also been leveraging technology like AI-based modeling for early warning and feedback so as to significantly improve preparedness and decision-making ability of affected communities," the ministry said.

The ministry further said, "Bhandari is among the pioneers in India who laid the foundation of scientific studies on geohazards 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."

Bhandari conducted studies on disasters in India, deployed the 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.

( With inputs from ANI )