Prevention is....

THE GOVERNMENT is learning to lead by example. Its largest construction agency, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), has decided that the use of wood in its housing projects will be banned from April 1993. The urban development secretary, Raj Bhargava, points to the paradox of the government borrowing for afforestation programmes, on one hand, and using wood for construction, on the other. Wood will henceforth be replaced with other building materials, once these are standardised. CPWD undertakes projects worth Rs 350 crore every year.