Earthquake preparedness
Bangladesh is widely believed to be one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. It also faces risks of Tsunami and storm surge, the former because of probability of submarine landslides and the latter on account of climatic changes.
How ill-prepared are we to meet the challenges has come to light. At the launching ceremony of Earthquake and Tsunami/Storm Surge Preparedness Component under Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) on Wednesday, experts portrayed a very bleak picture of our state of preparedness. In the process, they recommended certain remedial measures.
There has been a boom in high-rise constructions in the major cities, especially Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. These are mostly made of low quality materials without earthquake-resistant features. Actually, even the buildings of normal height making up the concrete jungle in Dhaka are weak constructions. It was once stated by a government minister that if an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale should hit Dhaka, 90 percent of its buildings will collapse. Imagine the horrific loss of human lives in as populous a city as Dhaka, let alone the damage to property.
Bangladesh National Building Code with its guidelines for earthquake resistant design of steel and concrete structures is not properly followed. There are three steps that we need to take: a) we identify the buildings through a survey, marking off the constructions that are safe from those that are not; b) we ask the unsafe building owners to retrofit their vulnerable constructions with minimal earthquake resistant features; and above all c) Rajuk must henceforth make it a point to strictly enforce the building code, so that no unsafe construction, the high-rise in particular, is erected.
One of the principal elements of preparedness agenda ought to be civil defence training to improve the reflexes of the citizens in terms of rescue and evacuation operations in the event of an earthquake.
Simultaneously, the government must build a strong equipment base to clear the earthquake debris to reach and rescue the victims trapped in a fault.
It is good to learn that the preparedness component supported by the European Commission is preparing a seismic hazard and vulnerability map for Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. When done, this should be widely publicised.
Finally, a modern warning system will have to be put in place.
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