College fest sensitises students on disaster management

Bharati Vidyapeeth’s (BV) Centre for Health Management Studies and Research (BVUCHMSR) organised a two-day event from January 21-22 on disaster prevention and management. It was held at BV Institute of Environment Education and Research in Katraj, Pune.

The first day started with national conference ‘Quasar’, exploring the horizon of disaster prevention and management, followed by the cultural fest ‘Aarambh’ on the second day.

“The conference offered a platform to students and healthcare professionals to exchange their knowledge and apprise themselves on the issue of disaster prevention and management.

The whole effort was to look at various disaster management protocols, especially for Pune city,” said Erach Bharucha, director, BVUCHMSR.

The sessions included discussions on subjects like public-private partnership in disaster management, effective and efficient disaster management with existing infrastructure, building new hospitals, new trends in disaster management such as IT as a solution and various other topics.

This year’s programme, Bharucha said, is expected to promote and enhance awareness and a sense of responsibility among citizens to firstly know and then be able to prevent such disasters. “The second part of the event, ‘Aarambh’, aimed to sensitise young people towards victims. It is important to know disaster preparedness protocols,” he said.

“The main aim of ‘Aarambh’ was to increase awareness among youths and health professionals to be prepared to respond against disasters in any form,” said BVUCHMSR student, Nishidha Rasal.

College students, hospital delegates and professionals participated in the two-day event. Students from various colleges like AFMC nursing College, Tehami Grant Nursing College, Bharti Nursing College and New Law College among others participated in the cultural events.

An initiative of BVUCHMSR students, the ‘Aarambh 2010’ fest highlighted issues which happen to get neglected often due to the fast-paced life.