India is building big. It is rolling out highways, metros, ports, tunnels, bridges, like never before. A concrete expression of its economic ambitions.
While we celebrate marvels like the arch bridge over the Chenab, cracks are appearing. Literally so. From collapsing bridges to newly built roads giving way in the monsoon. There is a pattern
And it points to a deeper problem other than corruption, bad contractors, or tight deadlines. It begins in the classroom schooling civil engineers.
India is not generating sufficient quality civil engineers.
This begs the question: Is India’s civil engineering education system not keeping pace with the country’s growing infrastructure ambitions?
To answer this and more, StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke to Professor Benny Raphael, who heads the Department of Civil Engineering in IIT Madras on Capital Calculus.
Anil Padmanabhan has been a journalist for the last 36 years. He has worked in various capacities in several publications including Afternoon Despatch & Courier, Press Trust of India, Business Standard, Mint and was based in New York for India Today. He was a Nieman Fellow in 2001. He tweets at @capitalcalculus.
