DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

Friday, March 28, 2014

Working together for disaster preparedness

In the aftermath of SIDR that that hit all the 32 coastal districts, damaging lives and livelihood immensely. The photo shows a remnants of a village called Southkhali in Bagerhat 

SYed Zakir hossain

Mohammed Norul Alam Raju n

n the last Thursday of every March, Bangladesh observes National Disaster Preparedness Day (NDPD) across the country. With the aim of disaster preparedness at all level, this year the day was celebrated on March 27. Expectedly, this year the theme of the day was the uncertainty of disasters and the importance of preparedness. Over the years, it has been established that preparedness is a better option for disaster management due to the fact that disaster management in Bangladesh has received a lot of attention from different corners. A paradigm shift from conventional relief and rehabilitation to comprehensive disaster management is being focused on where preparedness is at the heart of the cycle. But there is a long way to go.

HaZard Rankings of Bangladesh Hazard Flood Cyclone Earthquake Based on Human Exposure 1st out of 162 6th out of 89 17th out of 153 Based on Economic Exposure 3rd out of 162 12th out of 89 42nd out of 153
Source: EM-DAT, 2013

As a result, Bangladesh frequently suffers from devastating floods, cyclones, storm surges, tornados, cold wave, riverbank erosion and drought. The countrys precarious perch in between two tectonic plates exposes it to devastating earthquakes in near future. Bangladesh rated as the nation most at risk from extreme weather and geophysical events - study ranking 229 countries on their vulnerability to natural disasters (NDRI 2010-2011). The history of striking disaster in Bangladesh gives a devastating scenario with the country ranked first out of 162 countries based on human exposure due to flood related hazards and third based on economic exposure. It is ranked sixth out of 89 countries based on human exposure in terms of cyclone related hazards and twelfth from economic exposure. For earthquake, the country ranked seventeenth out of 153 countries based on human exposure and forty-second out of 153 countries based on economic exposure. In different disasters over the past 30 years, a total of 323 million people have been affected, out of which 191,836 were life casualties. The total amount of resulting damage in terms of economy was $17.1mn (EM-DAT). Besides, a severe cyclone took a toll of 0.3 million human lives in Bangladesh; the figure was 0.14 million in April 29, 1991. Other major disasters include devastating Sidr that hit all the 32 coastal districts, damaging lives and livelihood immensely.

and persons with disabilities. Followed by various international and national level commitments in disaster risk reduction, numerous measures are proactively taken by the Government of Bangladesh to address disaster risks comprehensively. It is done so with the vision to reduce the vulnerability of the poor to the effects of natural, environmental and human induced hazards to a manageable and acceptable humanitarian level by bringing a paradigm shift in disaster management from conventional response and relief practice to a more

and allocating useful resources. For managing cyclonic disasters, Bangladesh has significantly improved its preparedness. After Mahasen it has been commended by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): While tropical storm Mahasen reached the coastline of Bangladesh on Thursday weaker than anticipated, the preparedness work undertaken by the government and humanitarian partners saved countless lives. But, the country still has a long way to go, particularly for the areas

gap in constructing flood shelters in the flood prone areas where mainstreaming disaster risk reduction plans into Annual Development Planning should be considered with high attention. Measures should be taken for raising houses at the low land areas, developing cluster villages for the low-income community and ensuring clean water for all.

Hurdles to cross
Despite recent efforts, Bangladesh still has a huge amount of work to do in preparing for an earthquake, particularly for the major cities of the country including Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Mymensingh. Along with the rapid urbanisation where around 35,000 people move to urban areas in every week Building Code need to be strengthened and enforced; preparedness measures should be taken by the community and household levels. Till date, only the bare minimum of efforts have been taken for raising the preparedness knowledge of the communities and increase the stock of the government. For earthquake awareness community volunteers can act as change agents. In this regard, the government decided to train 62,000 community volunteers to carry out rescue operations immediately after disasters, but it trained only 8,000-9,000 volunteers in the last four years. For massive awareness of earthquake, government and non-government organisations can work together for building partnership where media can play an effective role. A regular basis earthquake demonstration, mock drills at both community and school level should be organised so that people can learn how to respond during and after the tremor. There should be a concrete plan for slum dwellers and their hazards they may be exposed to. Finally, for making the country resilient to disasters and promote preparedness at all level, a gradual and self-supporting change is required where sustainable engagement should be ensured from all levels of stakeholders, particularly from the disaster management committee. Considering all the hazards, an effective response plan is required where local needs, contexts and aspirations are addressed. In the last few decades, Bangladesh became a leader in developing institutional frameworks and capacity building initiatives. Similar efforts should be deployed for the implementation of policy frameworks, promoting a culture of safety and dissemination of best practices which ultimately will make the country resilient to disasters. l Mohammed Norul Alam Raju is program officer at Urban DRR, Oxfam. He can be reached at nraju@oxfam.org.uk.

Considering all the hazards, an effective response plan is required where local needs, contexts and aspirations are addressed

Looming disasters
Although most of the earthquakes that hit the country was inconsequential, Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable country from earthquakes as it is surrounded by regions of high seismicity. According to CDMP study, some 78,323 buildings will be destroyed completely if a 6 magnitude earthquake shakes Dhaka. In case of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, some 72,316 buildings in the capital will be damaged totally and 53,166 others partially. The numbers will go up to 238,164 across the country for an 8.5 magnitude tremor. Over the years, river erosion is considered one of the major disasters of Bangladesh both from natural and man-made causes due to the impact of climate change and human intervention. A research shows, (CEGIS, 2011) almost 0.1 million people become homeless every year due to river erosion.

Across the globe, the importance of preparedness has been recognised. In 1988, after implementing a flood mitigation and watershed management project in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) calculated that each dollar invested in DRR in Kinshasa resulted in savings of at least $45.58 during the following rainy season in 1999 (nef, 2012). There are other studies that suggested investing on risk reduction before the risk happens i.e. the World Bank estimates that every dollar spent on risk reduction saves $7 in relief and repairs.

comprehensive risk reduction culture, and strengthening the capacity of the Bangladesh disaster management system in improving the response and recovery management at all levels. Bangladesh has successfully formulated and enacted disaster management act, policies, plans, standing orders and appropriate institutional framework for implementation. This provides basic operational mechanism for all the relevant ministries and agencies, but the effective functioning of all the pledges has yet to be tested. There continues to be lack of coordinated implementation, lack of sustainability, access to modern technologies, access to information and of course scarcity of resources. Lack of coordination among the department themselves hampers quickest response in emergency. There is a need to complement disaster management vision of Bangladesh by building organisational capacity, sustainability

of improving coordination among the efforts of government and the NGOs, unavailability of required number of shelters, lack of volunteers, awareness-raising materials and level of modernisation of the Cyclone Preparedness Programm (CPP). In case of a cyclonic storm, taking shelter at the safe home is the ultimate preparedness measure. In 13 coastal districts of the country, 3770 shelters have been constructed over the years (DDM:April, 2013) for around 10 million people, while a significant number of shelters are not in right locations due to misappropriation and lack of planning during the construction time. In the last four years, around 970 shelters have been built, although 5000 shelters were supposed to be constructed. Mixing modern technology and indigenous knowledge, developing an appropriate flood signalling system is yet to be achieved. There is a serious

Natural Disasters from 1980 2010 No of events No of people killed Average killed per year No of people affected Economic Damage (US$ X 1,000) Economic Damage per year (US$ X 1,000)

234 191,836 6,188 234 191,836 191,836

Source: EM-DAT

Where Bangladesh stands

Bangladesh is a disaster-prone country, the geographical settings and various other anthropogenic features make the country vulnerable to frequent and devastating natural disasters. Due to unplanned urbanisation, covered by over 230 rivers, 580 kilometers of exposed coast lines, increasing trend of population and impact of climate change, an increased number of disasters are occurring in varying scales.

Mitigating risks
Over the years, Bangladesh has confronted many challenges of natural disasters and tried to mitigate the risks of natural disasters. Lack of proper preparedness always challenges the population living at extreme risk; specially women, children, aged citizens