Disaster Management in Sylhet: City authorities caught napping
There are laws, rules and specific instructions on how a government authority should remain prepared all the time to face a disaster.
But that preparedness is often out of practice and they seem to await a forecast in this regard.
Such slackness may somehow be salvageable when it comes to flood or cyclones, but not in the case of an earthquake, as the science is yet to advance to that level to predict an earthquake accurately.
After a series of four earthquakes and several aftershocks in Sylhet from Saturday morning to afternoon, followed by another one on early Sunday, this unpreparedness of the authorities concerned in Sylhet came to the fore.
Sylhet city sits in close proximity (55km) of the Dauki fault line making it susceptible to widespread damage should a major quake occur, according to experts.
Dauki is a 300km fault line stretching from south of the Shillong Plateau, a highland region in eastern Meghalaya state of northeastern India, to the northern border of Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions.
On June 12, 1897, a magnitude 8 plus earthquake was triggered in the fault which almost destroyed every structure of Bangladesh's northeastern part and present day India's Meghalaya and Assam's all towns; and at least 1,542 persons died.
Over a couple of decades, experts found that the fault line has accumulated much stain energy that's ready to be released and can cause a massive earthquake of magnitude 7.5 to 8.5.
Being alerted by the experts, SCC prepared a list of risky buildings in 2016, updated it in 2019 and listed 24 structures as risky.
Though owners of such buildings were ordered to demolish or fix those, only three buildings were demolished and one rectified over the years.
After the recent earthquakes, Sylhet City Corporation on Sunday ordered the owners to vacate six commercial buildings from the list for ten days.
However, a decision on permanent measures is yet to be taken.
Meanwhile, the corporation could not provide any list of existing buildings in the city and has no list compiled to find out how many buildings violated building code and setback rules.
During a visit to the city corporation yesterday, this correspondent found that the officials were yet to compile and update all related files and documents for emergency crisis management.
Nur Azizur Rahman, chief engineer of SCC, said, "It's been a long time since we organised a crisis management meeting concerning earthquake. We did not keep necessary documents properly."
"Following the recent incidents, we are trying our best to prepare ourselves to face any situation after a major earthquake," he added.
Fire service in Sylhet has also started preparation and called for a meeting with trained volunteers on Wednesday.
The officials said there are more than 4,000 volunteers who received training for earthquake disaster management, but the list has not been updated in couple of years and they are not sure how many of them are still available.
Anisur Rahman, deputy director of fire service in Sylhet, said, "We have sufficient human resources, around 200 in Sylhet district. If necessary, we can summon fire fighters from all nearby upazilas and other districts. We also have enough rescue vehicles along with other necessary modern equipment."
After the earthquakes on Saturday, SCC called in an emergency meeting that afternoon. The district committee held a meeting the next day and yesterday, the divisional committee also held one.
The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief also called in a meeting today in this regard.
Contacted, M Kazi Emdadul Islam, deputy commissioner of Sylhet, said, "As part of our preparation, we've alerted all authorities concerned like the city corporation, utility providers, law enforcement agencies and others. As awareness is the key, we've also started a campaign."
"For risky buildings or structures that violated the building code, the authorities concerned need to be proactive in updating the list and implementing laws against them. That way, the risk can be minimised," he said.
He also said there are Standing Orders of Disaster (SOD) for all government offices to follow.
Contacted, Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury said, "Years ago, we've generated a list of risky buildings but were not able to force the owners to either demolish or fix those."
"The owners somehow managed to get 'quality certificates' in their favour from different private universities or went to the High Court to get orders that restrict us from taking further action," he added.
The mayor said, "This is a national crisis and needs national attention. We've called in a meeting on Tuesday [today] evening where Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen (also a local lawmaker), experts and authorities concerned will be present."
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