A Penpicture of Mahendra Mathur
Born on 1st January 1932 at Aligarh, Mahendra was admitted to the Government
High School in that town on 10th July 1939. When the admitting teacher enquired
his date of birth, the accompanying cousin could only vouch that the student was
seven years old. Thereupon the teacher put down the date of birth as 10th July
1932 which has remained official since then.
newsreels in cinemas but was unable to comprehend ether the science of war or the
techniques of engineering that were so necessary for the conduct of war. But a
seed of curiosity for these professions was planted in his subconscience.
On matriculating in 1947 Mahendra joined the local Dharma Samaj College for
Intermediate (equivalent to ‘A’ levels) studies in Physics, Chemistry and
Mathematics. With that event coincided partition of India, communal killings and
freedom for the divided India and newly created Pakistan. To better fathom the
current events he became a regular borrower of books from the main library of
the town –the Lyall Library. Almost all his spare time was spent in devouring
books on Military History and Philosophy.
By dint of extraordinary luck, prayers and hard work Mahendra got into an
Electrical Engineering Course at the Aligah Muslim University. Here four Muslim
students became his best friends and mahendra saw at first hand how average Muslims in
India were obsessed with their religion. To be able to tell them something about
Hinduism he read the Gita for the first time and was amazed at finding such perinnial
and sublime philosophy which has since then remained solace of his life.
Six months as an Apprentice Engineer with the State Electricity Department, after
obtaining his degree were sufficient for him to know that he was not cut out for that life.
He applied for joining the Army, scraped through a three-day interview at the Services
Selection Board to be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers on
8 November 1953 and was sent to Madras Engineer Group and Centre (MEG) at
Bangalore. Here he was treated to the contrasting life of an insignificant trainee during
working hours and as an equal in the top social circles for the rest of the time. At the
Officers' Mess he chanced to dine with General Lentaigne (of Wingate's Chindit Brigade
in Burma during the World War II and General Ranjendrasinghji, the
Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army.
Two months of that dream life and 2nd Lieut Mathur was packed to the College of
Military Engineering at Poona for a ten months' course in Military and Civil Engineering.
At last in Ocober 1954 he took a train to Jullender in Punjab to join 39 Assault Field Park
Company ans start playing a soldier. This unit was part of the 1st Armoured Division that
had been deployed there for the contingency of a war with Pakistan and was now ordered
to move to its peace-time location at Jhansi and Babina. As the Mechanical Transport
officer (MTO) of the Unit, the subaltern enjoyed the authority of movng 70 odd vehicles
for five days harbouring them at night at any convenient location. He utilized this 600-miles
drive to learn driving and on arrival at Jhansi gave himself a Driving Permit for military vehicles!
Three and a half years at Jhansi would have been terribily boring had the Subaltern not
decided to continue his education. He had good tutors in his Officer Commanding, Major
Madan Saigal and a sister Company Commander, Major George Narayanan. He
underwent a Driving and Maintenace Course at Faizabad where he obtained the top grading
'AXI'. In 1957 he volunteered to be a part of a five-month reconnaisance team to trek to
IndoTibetian border. That is when he fell in love with mountains - and God - in nature. Next year
while at Allahabad Bridging Training Camp he joined the local flying club and obtained a license
to fly Piper Cubs and Chipmunks.
Posted at Bangalore as Assistant Instructor Workshops and promoted to the rank of Captain,
Mathur was also appointed Mess Secretary of the 180 years-old MEG Officers Mess.
Here he learnt horse-riding, and had a hectic social life. When Duke of Edinborough came to
address the Indian Institute of Science, he also came to the MEG Mess for meeting the British
community in South India and the duty of hosting him fell to the young Captain.
Now Mathur tried to learn playing Piano but a new shining star was revealed to him at the
birthday party of the piano teacher. Two years later, when he was Assistant Garrison Engineer
at Fort William, Calcutta, Zia and he got married. There also they had their first child, Varun.
Pomoted to be a Major, he found himself as the Garrison Engineer of Shillong in Assam. He
relished mobilizing the civilian force under him to build and maintain roads, buildings, water
and elctric supply systems of the Cantonement in support of XXXIII Corps. Soon Chinese
invasion disrupted everything. XXXIII Corps moved out to Siliguri and Major Mathur was
made the Garrison Engineer of Gauhati to extend Borjhar Airfield for the use of Indian Air
Force aircraft to strike the invading Chinese and to accomodate the Advanced Headquarters
of the Eastern Command. The Chinese withdrew unilaterally but the building activities continued.
And the Mathurs were blessed with a peach of daughter who was named Ira.
Now Mathur was given the command of 10 Field Company at Rupa in NEFA (North East
Frontier Agency). Here hecic building activity took place to provide accomadation and water
supply for the 11 Mountain Brigade. But the real hectic military activity was taking place in the
Western sector where Ayub Khan of Pakistan was trying to take Kashmir by force. But the Indian
Army foiled the plan by threatening Lahore. And Major Mathur's 10 Field Company was moved
to Fazilka to help 67 Infantry Brigade defend that vulnerable area while the XI Corps penetrated
Pakistan. Even the defesive action at Fazilka caused several casualties to the 10 Field Company
including a young officer, Inder Sharma. Ceasefire seventeen days later and Peace-treaty between
India's Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan made sure that the gains made by the
Indian Army were handed back to Pakistan.
Major Mathur succeeded in passing the examination for attending 21st Staff Course at the Defence
Services Staff College. After a lack-lustre performance there he was posted to 6 Engineer Regiment
that was being raised at Saugar in Central India. Due to shortage of officers he was given the
command of all the three Field Companies. More pleasng to him was to be the father of the second
daughter - Rashmi - who was born at the Saugar Military Hospital. This happy occasion was followed
by another - Mathur was now promoted to be a Lieut Colonel to command 4 Engineer Regiment of
23 Mountain Division (part of IV Corps) at Rangia in Assam. On assuming the command of the
Regimant the young Colonel realized that all his lifelong education had been to prepare him for this day.
In the one week that was allowed him before entraining for Mhow to undergo a three-months' Senior
Officers' Course at the Infantry School, he inspected all the units of the regiment and gave them
specific tasks for the next Quarter. An attack of Jaundice did not deter him from completing the
Course. On returning to the Regiment the first task assigned to him was to make a Topsecret
reconnaisace of Bhutan with a view to inducting the Mountain Division in that Country at short notice
in the event the Chinese made any incursions there. The reconnaisance was mainly on foot and by
stealth and in the process he almost lost his life when he slipped in the sloes of a ravine; his batman
caught up with him just in time to extend a supporting hand.
At a Sandmodel Exercise organized by the Headquaryers of Eastern Command the participating
syndicates were headed by the Generals-Officer-Commanding the Divisions of IV and XXXIII
Corps. Colonel Mathur was the Engineer adviser to General Rajendra Prasa of 23 Mountain Division
and participated as well observed the weak and good points of the high and mighty. A skirmish had
recently taken place between the Chinese and Indian forces at Nathula Pass in Sikkim and to visit that
forward post Mathur joned some other officers after the Exercise. On return, at the request of his
Chief Engineer, he planned and conducted an exercise without troops for all the commanders of
engineer regiments of the IV Corps. He also gave a lecture and demonstration of crossing mountainous
rivers with the help of mules for all the battalion, brigade and divisional commanders of the Corps.
A full scale Exercise with troops - 'Misamari' for the Division meant the regiment had to move on
gradually narrowing mountainous roads upto Tawang on the border of Tibet. He discarded all his
heavy vehicles, cut down the items to be carried to the minimum and made his regiment mobile on light
vehicles only. As a result the regiment wasted no time in unloading from heavt vehicles to lighter vehicles
at the beginning of narrow roads unlike other regiments. Both the Divisional Commander and the Chief
Engineer spoke in flattering words of the Regiment's performance during the Exercise.
At the end of 1968 the 4 Engineer Regiment was moved to Chandigarh to be part of 474 Engineer
Brigade in support of XI Corps. The aim was to perfect the technique of rapid bridge-buiding in the night
for the Corps to strike deep in Pakistan. At a full scale Exercise, 4 Engineer Regiment surprised the whole
Corps by completing the bridge at 2 AM in stead of projected 6 AM. The Corps Commander, Lieut
General Bhagat Singh himself visited the site, congratulated Mathur and asked him to write a Report on
the techniques used to build the bridge and send it to him. A copy of this report would be stolen from the
Corps Headquarters by Pakistani spies, sent to General Niazi who would surrender the defeated Pakistani
Army and Colonel Mathur's report to the victorious Indian General Jagjit Arora at the end of the war for
the liberation of Bagladesh in December 1971.
But in 1969 Mahendra was sent to Bangalore to command the Training Battalion I to train recruits into
full-flrdged sappers. There he also trained the officers of the MEG and Madras, Mysore and Kerala Area
in Military History and Urban Guirrila Warfare. He was also part of Southen Command's staff to train
officers for Defence Services Staff College. At the end of Bangladesh war Mathur was appointed Staff
Officer I (G) at the Western Command Headquarters at Simla. Here he gave the engineering input for
planning operations against Pakistan. H also undertook personal recconaisance of various locations on
Pakistani and Chinese borders. In May 1975 he prematurely retired from the Indian Army to take up a
job with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago of building Scaborough Parkway in the island Tobago.
The 7.2 miles long Highway had several bends and almost 100 dwellings on the Right-of-way that had to
be acquired. By superimposing the alignment on aerial photographs and after a personal ground survey
four bends were eliminated reducing the Highway length by half-a-mile and cutting down the buildings to
be acquired to 33. All this also meant considerable reduction in the project cost. After the first Contractor
was expelled from the site, the scope of the job was enhanced to include six Connector roads and
extension of the Highway at both ends. During the break before the next contracor resumed the work,
Mathur obtained te Certificate in Arbitration and Contract Law from London's Institute of Civil
Engineers. And when the Highway was completed within budget and time it was hailed by the President
of the Country as a national triumph. As Director of the Project - renamed Claude Noel Highway by the
Prime Minister George Chambers - Colonel Mathur also co-ordinated development of Lower Scarborough
which involved construction of a Library, a Bus Station, a Post office, local roads and improvement of rivers
to prevent flooding.
On completion of these projects Colonel Mathur was retained as the Technical Officer of the Works
Division in Tobago in which position he completed several road and drainage projects and looked after
maintenance of all the government's engineering assets. He organized restoration of Castara Road that had
remained breached since the Hurricane Flora hit Tobago in 1962. And when a storm cut off Eastern Tobago in
December 1985 he concentrated all Government and Private resources of earth-moving equipment to restore
the communications within a couple of days.
Called to Trinidad to head the newly created Corps of Engineers in the Ministry of National Security, Mathur
co-ordinated improvement of Staubles Road and its protection from the sea, and improvement of Police,
Prison, Fire Services and Defence Force buildings. During this period he was also initiated into Disaster
Management by undergoing a course in Advanced Disastr Operations Management at the national
Advanced Resources Technology Center, Tampa, U.S.A. He also visited Jamaica after the Hurricane Gilbert,
spent two weeks with North Carolina Division of Emergency Management and observed Disaster
Management techniques in Martinique for a week. He also succesfully completed a 4-weeks course of the
Central Trainig Unit in Management for Senior Public Officers.
Appointed Director of the newly created National Emergency Management Agency on 1 May 1989, Mathur
wrote the first National Disaster Preparedness Plan that was approved by the Prime Minister. This involved
creating a national Task Force which he headed and co-ordinated. It helped that he attended a post-graduate
Counter Disaster Staff Course at Cranfield, Royal Military College of Science, U.K, a Commonwealth
organized workshop on floods in Dhaka, Bangladesh and participated in U.N.E.P. organized workshop on
Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at Local Level at Mexico. The electronic and print media of
the Country cooperated with him in carrying out a blitz in public education on disaster preparedness.
When the Jamaat-e-Muslimeen staged a coup in the Parliament, Mathur coordinated receipt of relief supplies
and their distribution. After the coup had been subdued he visited all the homes of the people who had laid
down their lives during the coup at the Prime Minister's behest and recommended quantum of compensation
to each family.
Soon after, the Storm Fran threatened Trinidad and Tobago. But the Country was ready with all the systems
of a functioning Operations Room, warnings, damage assessment, search and rescue, evacuation, sheltering,
and mass casualty management in place. Fortunately the storm fizzled out at the last moment causing only
flooding and high sea waves. But the Country had a successful full-dress rehearsal.
The United Nations had asked all the member countries to constitute a national committee for the International
Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) - 1990s - and the Prime Minister nominated Mathur to be
the Chairman of the Committee for Trinidad and Tobago. He was also appointed by the High Court to be the
Arbitrator for a dispute between the minis tr of works and the road contractor Seereeram Brothers limited.
To alert Point Lisas for chemical disasters, Mathur organized an international Colloquium under the patronage
of the Prime Minister. He participated in an IDNDR international conference in Chiba, Japan "Towards New
Frontiers against natural disasters. He also successfully completed an Exercise Design Course organized by
the Emergency Management Institute of the U.S.A. and participated in a week long workshop at Madison
University in the U.S.A. on Shelters for Refugees and Women's Issues.
To England he went to attend Small Commonwealth Nations Conference on Disasters. He took furlough to
carry out research on Hazard Assessment at Oxford which he later incorporated in Trinidad and Tobago. He
was also invited to deliver an address to the Royal Society in London on "Protecting Communities from
Chemical and Natural Disasters. He also participated in a Hurricane Mitigation Conference at Miami Hurricane
Center and a Tsunami Workshop at Mayaguez, Peurto Rico.
Mathur utilized all his experience to structure two successful international conferences in Trinidad - one for
using Engineering to reduce vulnerability in Trinidad and Tobago and the other in planning for Industrial
Disasters in Trinidad. He also chaired a Committee to plan for disasters at Point Lisas and produced a
comprehensive report for the Cabinet.
After retirement from NEMA Mathur was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Premix Concrete
Limited, a newly formed Company to manufacture and distribute pre-mixed concrete. The Company has
flourished right from the beginning and is now a major supplier of concrete in the Country.
Colonel Mathur contributed articles regularly to the Trinidad Guardian, Express, Newsday and the U.N.
Publication "Stop Disasters". These articles together with numerous talks at the University, Rotary Clubs,
Women's organizations, Industries, Schools, Chambers of Commerce and Labour Organizations were compiled
in the books that are titled Developing Disaster Management in Trinidad and Tobago, More on Disaster
Management in Trinidad and Tobago, Disaster Management Model in Trinidad and Tobago, Elements of
Disaster Management, Troubled Surface of a Friendly Planet, Changing Environment and Disasters, Earth's
Grievous Faults and A spectrum of Disasters. He has also published the following books as his memoirs in
fictional form:
Remembrance of My Indian Past
Venice of the Caribbean
Escape from the Acts of God
A Journey of Self-discovery
Next Life
My Former Life
Delving in Hinduism, he has written a series of articles on the Gita and Great Gurus.
Colonel Mathur lives in Trinidad with his wife.
Born on 1st January 1932 at Aligarh, Mahendra was admitted to the Government
High School in that town on 10th July 1939. When the admitting teacher enquired
his date of birth, the accompanying cousin could only vouch that the student was
seven years old. Thereupon the teacher put down the date of birth as 10th July
1932 which has remained official since then.
Soon the World War II broke out and the young student found himself taking great
interest in the progress of war. He scanned newspapers and watched the war newsreels in cinemas but was unable to comprehend ether the science of war or the
techniques of engineering that were so necessary for the conduct of war. But a
seed of curiosity for these professions was planted in his subconscience.
On matriculating in 1947 Mahendra joined the local Dharma Samaj College for
Intermediate (equivalent to ‘A’ levels) studies in Physics, Chemistry and
Mathematics. With that event coincided partition of India, communal killings and
freedom for the divided India and newly created Pakistan. To better fathom the
current events he became a regular borrower of books from the main library of
the town –the Lyall Library. Almost all his spare time was spent in devouring
books on Military History and Philosophy.
By dint of extraordinary luck, prayers and hard work Mahendra got into an
Electrical Engineering Course at the Aligah Muslim University. Here four Muslim
students became his best friends and mahendra saw at first hand how average Muslims in
India were obsessed with their religion. To be able to tell them something about
Hinduism he read the Gita for the first time and was amazed at finding such perinnial
and sublime philosophy which has since then remained solace of his life.
Six months as an Apprentice Engineer with the State Electricity Department, after
obtaining his degree were sufficient for him to know that he was not cut out for that life.
He applied for joining the Army, scraped through a three-day interview at the Services
Selection Board to be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers on
8 November 1953 and was sent to Madras Engineer Group and Centre (MEG) at
Bangalore. Here he was treated to the contrasting life of an insignificant trainee during
working hours and as an equal in the top social circles for the rest of the time. At the
Officers' Mess he chanced to dine with General Lentaigne (of Wingate's Chindit Brigade
in Burma during the World War II and General Ranjendrasinghji, the
Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army.
Two months of that dream life and 2nd Lieut Mathur was packed to the College of
Military Engineering at Poona for a ten months' course in Military and Civil Engineering.
At last in Ocober 1954 he took a train to Jullender in Punjab to join 39 Assault Field Park
Company ans start playing a soldier. This unit was part of the 1st Armoured Division that
had been deployed there for the contingency of a war with Pakistan and was now ordered
to move to its peace-time location at Jhansi and Babina. As the Mechanical Transport
officer (MTO) of the Unit, the subaltern enjoyed the authority of movng 70 odd vehicles
for five days harbouring them at night at any convenient location. He utilized this 600-miles
drive to learn driving and on arrival at Jhansi gave himself a Driving Permit for military vehicles!
Three and a half years at Jhansi would have been terribily boring had the Subaltern not
decided to continue his education. He had good tutors in his Officer Commanding, Major
Madan Saigal and a sister Company Commander, Major George Narayanan. He
underwent a Driving and Maintenace Course at Faizabad where he obtained the top grading
'AXI'. In 1957 he volunteered to be a part of a five-month reconnaisance team to trek to
IndoTibetian border. That is when he fell in love with mountains - and God - in nature. Next year
while at Allahabad Bridging Training Camp he joined the local flying club and obtained a license
to fly Piper Cubs and Chipmunks.
Posted at Bangalore as Assistant Instructor Workshops and promoted to the rank of Captain,
Mathur was also appointed Mess Secretary of the 180 years-old MEG Officers Mess.
Here he learnt horse-riding, and had a hectic social life. When Duke of Edinborough came to
address the Indian Institute of Science, he also came to the MEG Mess for meeting the British
community in South India and the duty of hosting him fell to the young Captain.
Now Mathur tried to learn playing Piano but a new shining star was revealed to him at the
birthday party of the piano teacher. Two years later, when he was Assistant Garrison Engineer
at Fort William, Calcutta, Zia and he got married. There also they had their first child, Varun.
Pomoted to be a Major, he found himself as the Garrison Engineer of Shillong in Assam. He
relished mobilizing the civilian force under him to build and maintain roads, buildings, water
and elctric supply systems of the Cantonement in support of XXXIII Corps. Soon Chinese
invasion disrupted everything. XXXIII Corps moved out to Siliguri and Major Mathur was
made the Garrison Engineer of Gauhati to extend Borjhar Airfield for the use of Indian Air
Force aircraft to strike the invading Chinese and to accomodate the Advanced Headquarters
of the Eastern Command. The Chinese withdrew unilaterally but the building activities continued.
And the Mathurs were blessed with a peach of daughter who was named Ira.
Now Mathur was given the command of 10 Field Company at Rupa in NEFA (North East
Frontier Agency). Here hecic building activity took place to provide accomadation and water
supply for the 11 Mountain Brigade. But the real hectic military activity was taking place in the
Western sector where Ayub Khan of Pakistan was trying to take Kashmir by force. But the Indian
Army foiled the plan by threatening Lahore. And Major Mathur's 10 Field Company was moved
to Fazilka to help 67 Infantry Brigade defend that vulnerable area while the XI Corps penetrated
Pakistan. Even the defesive action at Fazilka caused several casualties to the 10 Field Company
including a young officer, Inder Sharma. Ceasefire seventeen days later and Peace-treaty between
India's Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan made sure that the gains made by the
Indian Army were handed back to Pakistan.
Major Mathur succeeded in passing the examination for attending 21st Staff Course at the Defence
Services Staff College. After a lack-lustre performance there he was posted to 6 Engineer Regiment
that was being raised at Saugar in Central India. Due to shortage of officers he was given the
command of all the three Field Companies. More pleasng to him was to be the father of the second
daughter - Rashmi - who was born at the Saugar Military Hospital. This happy occasion was followed
by another - Mathur was now promoted to be a Lieut Colonel to command 4 Engineer Regiment of
23 Mountain Division (part of IV Corps) at Rangia in Assam. On assuming the command of the
Regimant the young Colonel realized that all his lifelong education had been to prepare him for this day.
In the one week that was allowed him before entraining for Mhow to undergo a three-months' Senior
Officers' Course at the Infantry School, he inspected all the units of the regiment and gave them
specific tasks for the next Quarter. An attack of Jaundice did not deter him from completing the
Course. On returning to the Regiment the first task assigned to him was to make a Topsecret
reconnaisace of Bhutan with a view to inducting the Mountain Division in that Country at short notice
in the event the Chinese made any incursions there. The reconnaisance was mainly on foot and by
stealth and in the process he almost lost his life when he slipped in the sloes of a ravine; his batman
caught up with him just in time to extend a supporting hand.
At a Sandmodel Exercise organized by the Headquaryers of Eastern Command the participating
syndicates were headed by the Generals-Officer-Commanding the Divisions of IV and XXXIII
Corps. Colonel Mathur was the Engineer adviser to General Rajendra Prasa of 23 Mountain Division
and participated as well observed the weak and good points of the high and mighty. A skirmish had
recently taken place between the Chinese and Indian forces at Nathula Pass in Sikkim and to visit that
forward post Mathur joned some other officers after the Exercise. On return, at the request of his
Chief Engineer, he planned and conducted an exercise without troops for all the commanders of
engineer regiments of the IV Corps. He also gave a lecture and demonstration of crossing mountainous
rivers with the help of mules for all the battalion, brigade and divisional commanders of the Corps.
A full scale Exercise with troops - 'Misamari' for the Division meant the regiment had to move on
gradually narrowing mountainous roads upto Tawang on the border of Tibet. He discarded all his
heavy vehicles, cut down the items to be carried to the minimum and made his regiment mobile on light
vehicles only. As a result the regiment wasted no time in unloading from heavt vehicles to lighter vehicles
at the beginning of narrow roads unlike other regiments. Both the Divisional Commander and the Chief
Engineer spoke in flattering words of the Regiment's performance during the Exercise.
At the end of 1968 the 4 Engineer Regiment was moved to Chandigarh to be part of 474 Engineer
Brigade in support of XI Corps. The aim was to perfect the technique of rapid bridge-buiding in the night
for the Corps to strike deep in Pakistan. At a full scale Exercise, 4 Engineer Regiment surprised the whole
Corps by completing the bridge at 2 AM in stead of projected 6 AM. The Corps Commander, Lieut
General Bhagat Singh himself visited the site, congratulated Mathur and asked him to write a Report on
the techniques used to build the bridge and send it to him. A copy of this report would be stolen from the
Corps Headquarters by Pakistani spies, sent to General Niazi who would surrender the defeated Pakistani
Army and Colonel Mathur's report to the victorious Indian General Jagjit Arora at the end of the war for
the liberation of Bagladesh in December 1971.
But in 1969 Mahendra was sent to Bangalore to command the Training Battalion I to train recruits into
full-flrdged sappers. There he also trained the officers of the MEG and Madras, Mysore and Kerala Area
in Military History and Urban Guirrila Warfare. He was also part of Southen Command's staff to train
officers for Defence Services Staff College. At the end of Bangladesh war Mathur was appointed Staff
Officer I (G) at the Western Command Headquarters at Simla. Here he gave the engineering input for
planning operations against Pakistan. H also undertook personal recconaisance of various locations on
Pakistani and Chinese borders. In May 1975 he prematurely retired from the Indian Army to take up a
job with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago of building Scaborough Parkway in the island Tobago.
The 7.2 miles long Highway had several bends and almost 100 dwellings on the Right-of-way that had to
be acquired. By superimposing the alignment on aerial photographs and after a personal ground survey
four bends were eliminated reducing the Highway length by half-a-mile and cutting down the buildings to
be acquired to 33. All this also meant considerable reduction in the project cost. After the first Contractor
was expelled from the site, the scope of the job was enhanced to include six Connector roads and
extension of the Highway at both ends. During the break before the next contracor resumed the work,
Mathur obtained te Certificate in Arbitration and Contract Law from London's Institute of Civil
Engineers. And when the Highway was completed within budget and time it was hailed by the President
of the Country as a national triumph. As Director of the Project - renamed Claude Noel Highway by the
Prime Minister George Chambers - Colonel Mathur also co-ordinated development of Lower Scarborough
which involved construction of a Library, a Bus Station, a Post office, local roads and improvement of rivers
to prevent flooding.
On completion of these projects Colonel Mathur was retained as the Technical Officer of the Works
Division in Tobago in which position he completed several road and drainage projects and looked after
maintenance of all the government's engineering assets. He organized restoration of Castara Road that had
remained breached since the Hurricane Flora hit Tobago in 1962. And when a storm cut off Eastern Tobago in
December 1985 he concentrated all Government and Private resources of earth-moving equipment to restore
the communications within a couple of days.
Called to Trinidad to head the newly created Corps of Engineers in the Ministry of National Security, Mathur
co-ordinated improvement of Staubles Road and its protection from the sea, and improvement of Police,
Prison, Fire Services and Defence Force buildings. During this period he was also initiated into Disaster
Management by undergoing a course in Advanced Disastr Operations Management at the national
Advanced Resources Technology Center, Tampa, U.S.A. He also visited Jamaica after the Hurricane Gilbert,
spent two weeks with North Carolina Division of Emergency Management and observed Disaster
Management techniques in Martinique for a week. He also succesfully completed a 4-weeks course of the
Central Trainig Unit in Management for Senior Public Officers.
Appointed Director of the newly created National Emergency Management Agency on 1 May 1989, Mathur
wrote the first National Disaster Preparedness Plan that was approved by the Prime Minister. This involved
creating a national Task Force which he headed and co-ordinated. It helped that he attended a post-graduate
Counter Disaster Staff Course at Cranfield, Royal Military College of Science, U.K, a Commonwealth
organized workshop on floods in Dhaka, Bangladesh and participated in U.N.E.P. organized workshop on
Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at Local Level at Mexico. The electronic and print media of
the Country cooperated with him in carrying out a blitz in public education on disaster preparedness.
When the Jamaat-e-Muslimeen staged a coup in the Parliament, Mathur coordinated receipt of relief supplies
and their distribution. After the coup had been subdued he visited all the homes of the people who had laid
down their lives during the coup at the Prime Minister's behest and recommended quantum of compensation
to each family.
Soon after, the Storm Fran threatened Trinidad and Tobago. But the Country was ready with all the systems
of a functioning Operations Room, warnings, damage assessment, search and rescue, evacuation, sheltering,
and mass casualty management in place. Fortunately the storm fizzled out at the last moment causing only
flooding and high sea waves. But the Country had a successful full-dress rehearsal.
The United Nations had asked all the member countries to constitute a national committee for the International
Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) - 1990s - and the Prime Minister nominated Mathur to be
the Chairman of the Committee for Trinidad and Tobago. He was also appointed by the High Court to be the
Arbitrator for a dispute between the minis tr of works and the road contractor Seereeram Brothers limited.
To alert Point Lisas for chemical disasters, Mathur organized an international Colloquium under the patronage
of the Prime Minister. He participated in an IDNDR international conference in Chiba, Japan "Towards New
Frontiers against natural disasters. He also successfully completed an Exercise Design Course organized by
the Emergency Management Institute of the U.S.A. and participated in a week long workshop at Madison
University in the U.S.A. on Shelters for Refugees and Women's Issues.
To England he went to attend Small Commonwealth Nations Conference on Disasters. He took furlough to
carry out research on Hazard Assessment at Oxford which he later incorporated in Trinidad and Tobago. He
was also invited to deliver an address to the Royal Society in London on "Protecting Communities from
Chemical and Natural Disasters. He also participated in a Hurricane Mitigation Conference at Miami Hurricane
Center and a Tsunami Workshop at Mayaguez, Peurto Rico.
Mathur utilized all his experience to structure two successful international conferences in Trinidad - one for
using Engineering to reduce vulnerability in Trinidad and Tobago and the other in planning for Industrial
Disasters in Trinidad. He also chaired a Committee to plan for disasters at Point Lisas and produced a
comprehensive report for the Cabinet.
After retirement from NEMA Mathur was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Premix Concrete
Limited, a newly formed Company to manufacture and distribute pre-mixed concrete. The Company has
flourished right from the beginning and is now a major supplier of concrete in the Country.
Colonel Mathur contributed articles regularly to the Trinidad Guardian, Express, Newsday and the U.N.
Publication "Stop Disasters". These articles together with numerous talks at the University, Rotary Clubs,
Women's organizations, Industries, Schools, Chambers of Commerce and Labour Organizations were compiled
in the books that are titled Developing Disaster Management in Trinidad and Tobago, More on Disaster
Management in Trinidad and Tobago, Disaster Management Model in Trinidad and Tobago, Elements of
Disaster Management, Troubled Surface of a Friendly Planet, Changing Environment and Disasters, Earth's
Grievous Faults and A spectrum of Disasters. He has also published the following books as his memoirs in
fictional form:
Remembrance of My Indian Past
Venice of the Caribbean
Escape from the Acts of God
A Journey of Self-discovery
Next Life
My Former Life
Delving in Hinduism, he has written a series of articles on the Gita and Great Gurus.
Colonel Mathur lives in Trinidad with his wife.
