Instead, in what they term as "environment building", they are on their way to the Andaman Islands to construct and test "safe" houses which can withstand tsunamis.

A group of 33 students, all from the fourth year of Faculty of Architecture and Ekistics and two faculty members, will start on their 20-day trip to the Andamans on Friday.

The budding architects will make use of locally available building material, including bamboos, to build sturdy houses that will be economically viable for the residents.

Needless to say, students are excited about their endeavor. "It will be my first trip to Andaman and the thought of working for the underprivileged is a moving force," says Saima Haideri.

Iqtedar Alam, another students makes it clear that they cannot make houses that will be able to withstand the tsunami if it strikes again. "But we can identify locations where building houses from bamboos will be safe enough," he adds.

The students will stay in Port Blair and build a sample house and test it. If the sample house passes the test, it will be documented and photographed, and the results will be later used for mass production.

The trip is part of the faculty's efforts to acquaint students with disaster management. Students in the fourth year had gone to Kullu and Manali to design sturdier houses for the hilly region last year.