Preparedness for natural disasters

Natural calamities can occur any time and cause a national crisis. For a densely populated country like Bangladesh, such disasters may be catastrophic unless we are prepared. When we will have better preparations and trained people in place, we will be better-off to deal with such situations and save millions of lives. Countrywide mass safety training and drills will help people be well-prepared during any disaster. The training can be held once a year. During the training, people will stop working for an hour to participate in the training and evacuate workplaces, homes, hospitals, educational institutions and public places and gather at a pre-arranged safe place, conduct a head count and record the evacuation time. People will resume their works after the drill.

We should not forget that Bangladesh is a flood-prone country. The recent floods have already exposed that we have loopholes in rescue operations and relief distributions. So, we urge the disaster management and relief ministry to take an initiative of safety training countrywide. It can involve security forces and volunteers to coordinate the training. Such trainings will be useful to make people aware about emergency situations and also prepare us for natural disasters.

Abu Elias Linkon,

Banasree, Dhaka,

[email protected]