Sylhet city earthquake-prone
Sylhet city sits in close proximity of the Dauki fault line making it susceptible to widespread damage should a major quake occur. This brings us to the question to what extent the civil administration is prepared for rescue operations should the city be struck by an earthquake. Going by what has been reported in this paper, we find that both the fire brigade and civil defence are very much understaffed and ill equipped to face such an eventuality. Apparently some 5,000 volunteers have been trained to assist in a post-quake relief operation, but where heavy equipment have not been procured, to what extent these volunteers can help in rescue operations is widely suspect.
Indeed, if we go by a 2009 research paper published by the Comprehensive Disaster Management Program (CDMP), the city has 52,000 buildings and another analysis carried out the same year put more than 51,000 of those buildings to be susceptible to moderate damage in the event of a strong earthquake. This is 2016 and we would have thought that in the last seven years, measures would have been taken to build up the capacities of departments that are supposed to look after the civilian populace in the event of a natural disaster such as earthquake.
The April 13 quake should serve as a wakeup call for the authorities to procure, on a priority basis, requisite equipment and make financial allocations in the upcoming budget to that effect for all major urban centres including Dhaka. This is no longer an option but a requirement.
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