NBRO victim of brain drain as other organisations offer better fringe benefits

The staff turnover at the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) continues to remain high as the organisation cannot offer fringe benefits and high remuneration compared to other government statutory bodies and private sector organizations, the institution’s 2022 annual report states.

The annual report further states that recruitment is difficult and recruits often lack sufficient experience.In 2022, NBRO recruited 11 management assistants while 18 employees resigned and two retired. Overall, there is a shortage of 86 staffers, according to the report.

NBRO carries out activities of identification of slope instability, assessment of associated risk, mapping of hazardous zones, monitoring of ground movement and rainfall in landslide-prone areas, issuance of landslide early warning, mitigation of landslides and unstable slopes and building of awareness of landslide hazard. These activities are hampered by the lack of staff.

From March 2011 to 31 December 2022, NBRO has granted approval to over 100,000 applications seeking building permits or approval of development projects that are in landslide-prone areas, the report said.

The number of approvals issued in 2022 was 5157.

NBRO has also prepared landslide hazard zones’ maps (to the scale of 1:50,000) covering 32,593 square kilometres in 13 districts identified as landslide-prone.

The organisation has also performed 4600 landslide special investigations in 2022 at the cost of 69.5 million rupees. These investigations are conducted to identify risks to the safety of human settlements, infrastructure and plantations in a particular area.

NBRO earns money by providing testing and technical consultancy services, but due to restrictive regulations, it is difficult for NBRO to competitively bid for consultancies, the report adds. (RK)