Are we really prepared?
Even if a 7.5 or 8.0 magnitude earthquake hits an area close to the capital, around 1.66 lakh city buildings would be affected and about 75,000 of those would collapse, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq said yesterday citing a government estimate.
It would cause casualties to some 1.52 lakh people, he said at the launch of a report on urban disaster resilience assessment.
The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and SEEDS Asia, an NGO working on disasters, jointly hosted the programme at a Baridhara hotel.
The mayor said removal of debris would take 122 crore truck trips in case of such a disaster.
“Are we prepared to tackle a situation of this magnitude given that it took us months to manage one Rana Plaza collapse?” Annisul questioned.
Md Mesbahul Islam, chief executive officer of DNCC, said preparedness is the key to minimise the damage caused by any such major natural disaster.
The city's open spaces must be preserved to deal with an earthquake, canals and water reservoirs to fight fires and drainage system to help flood management, he added.
Terming earthquake an imminent danger for Bangladesh, Takatoshi Nishikata, country representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), said Dhaka is extremely vulnerable to quakes.
The city is also prone to flood and potential fire hazards, he said citing the resilience report.
People's resilience to such disasters is vital for evacuation and rescue works, Takatoshi observed.
According to the report, Dhaka north city has been gaining higher resilience to disasters since 2010.
The ward-level disaster risk assessment of five zones in the DNCC area was carried out by SEEDS Asia in cooperation with Brac University in June-September last year, with technical assistance from Japan.
SEEDS Asia Chairman Rajib Shaw and DNCC Superintending Tariq Bin Yousuf spoke, among others.
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