more-in S.A. Abbasi, professor, Centre for Pollution Control and Environmental Engineering, Pondicherry University, has made significant contributions to a new book, ‘Advances in Fire and Process Safety’ (Springer). The book carries chapters authored by Prof. Abbasi and others on the latest developments in the field. According to Pondicherry University, Prof. Abbasi had set up a research group in this field at the institution in 1991 and despite resource constraints the group had made several outstanding contributions. The research group had also won international accolades and is now regarded as one of the best, not only in Asia, but also in the world. The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Gurmeet Singh, recently felicitated Prof. Abbasi on his achievement, at a function. While launching the book, Prof. Singh observed that process safety and accident prevention was a key area of research, which came into prominence after the Bhopal gas tragedy. While the Bhopal tragedy led to over 20,000 deaths and contamination of large areas, other industrial accidents such as the IOC Refinery disaster at Jaipur in 2009, and the BP offshore rig catastrophe of 2010, also caused direct and indirect losses, worth thousands of crores, he said. The aim of process safety research is to not only minimise the number of accidents, but also to reduce the severity of unavoidable accidents. Developed countries have set up several departments and research centers for advanced research in this field but the Indian thrust has been slow so far, he observed. The VC said that he would strongly encourage deeper work in this globally important area of research.

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