FCC

The COVID Built Environment

2020-05-08

We are living in the times of COVID-19, an unparalleled crisis that has metastasised throughout the world, but valuable lessons can be learnt from it. While the world has been busy focussing on creating built environment that is resilient and sustainable to overcome natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and cyclones, not much has been done to handle epidemics like SARS, H1N1, Ebola and now COVID-19, the global pandemic. The recent rise of viruses has held up the mirror to reality and proven that just building robust structures and edifices isn?t enough. We need to be prepared to grapple with these challenges by using models of ?Care? and ?Conserve? and technology to ensure biological disasters do not disrupt societies, businesses and economies.

One of the key sectors that have been impacted heavily is the built environment sector. Due to the national lockdown and issuance of ?social distancing? directive, all construction work had been put on hold , till recently. It is only now that the government has issued a notification for construction work to be allowed in a controlled manner, with appropriate safety measures in place. The crisis has ensured that the construction industry will have to look at learning to work under some regulatory practices. This will raise the important question if there is a requirement for regulatory and development authority for construction on a nation-wide basis.

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