Siliguri, July 30: The North Bengal University will start a course on disaster management to develop trained manpower.

The one-year postgraduate diploma course will begin by the end of the year.

NBU authorities said the course was “modelled on a similar course taught at the University of Winsconsin, United States of America, and United Nation Development Programme training programme on disaster management”.

North Bengal is a sensitive zone where disasters, like floods in the plains and landslides in the hills, are common, university vice-chancellor Pijush Kanti Saha said. “ It is necessary that we have trained manpower to cope with such situations. That is why we thought of beginning this course.”

Saha said the district administration had, in the wake of the recent floods and landslides, asked the NBU to play an active role in tackling disasters.

The postgraduate diploma course on disaster management will be conducted under the centre for development studies of NBU. Students will have to pay “a nominal fee” of Rs 1,000 per month for the course, which will be the first of its kind in West Bengal.

The 20 students, with whom the course will begin , will need to complete 10 papers in two semesters.

The course — which will be held in the evenings and will be part-time in nature to allow working people to enroll themselves — will cover several areas like climatic anomalies, biotic disasters, management of hazards, environmental laws, mitigation and prevention strategies and computer application.

“The course structure has been designed keeping in mind the national policy on disaster management,” Saha said.

“Not only newcomers looking for challenging jobs but also those working with NGOs or other government departments can do this course because it has wide applicability,” he added.