Better disaster preparedness is needed
Monday, 25 October 2010
THE Disaster Management Ministry notwithstanding, it is no overstatement to say that preparing for disasters of all sorts and coping with them call for a greater engagement by the government in all respects. The recent incidents of building collapse and fire incidents that demonstrated serious helplessness in clearing the collapsed structures or dousing out the fire, showed up that capacities are significantly lacking to face up to such situations. Although Bangladesh has earned a good name for dealing with natural disasters, internationally, the same are actually limited to battling such calamities as cyclones in the coastal areas.
But it cannot be said that our abilities for dealing with the destructions of the type noted recently in Dhaka city such as building collapse, fire incident, etc., have similarly improved. The fire department is spread thin all over the country. Only a very limited number of fire fighters are available for the Dhaka region and their equipment are not sufficient to take on successfully big fire incidents. The available equipment are not capable to reach above four-five stories. In the event of an earthquake of the sort that has been predicted for Dhaka causing a series of building collapses, the capacity of the present fire department would be simply overwhelmed. Thus, there is a compelling need to add to the fire fighting capacities of the fire fighting department. Its regular members need to be increased largely to maintain an appropriate number for discharging duties in Dhaka city and elsewhere.
Volunteers in large number also need to be raised and drilled well for duty under any disaster situations like earthquakes. Rescue equipment like heavy cranes and other gears are practically none at the disposal of the fire service. But government should aim to get them in adequate number under a time-bound framework and train personnel for operating them quickly and efficiently. In sum, government should beef up its abilities to draw from in the event of large-scale disasters striking, specially the urban areas. The preparedness should include both manpower and equipment.
The urban areas like Dhaka are in need of special protection as they hold the major concentrations of wealth or assets in the country. Resources are scarce and, therefore, preparations need to be taken to reduce the impact of disasters and in cases of their happening, to keep losses in different forms as low as possible
Shimul Biswas
Gulshan, Dhaka.
But it cannot be said that our abilities for dealing with the destructions of the type noted recently in Dhaka city such as building collapse, fire incident, etc., have similarly improved. The fire department is spread thin all over the country. Only a very limited number of fire fighters are available for the Dhaka region and their equipment are not sufficient to take on successfully big fire incidents. The available equipment are not capable to reach above four-five stories. In the event of an earthquake of the sort that has been predicted for Dhaka causing a series of building collapses, the capacity of the present fire department would be simply overwhelmed. Thus, there is a compelling need to add to the fire fighting capacities of the fire fighting department. Its regular members need to be increased largely to maintain an appropriate number for discharging duties in Dhaka city and elsewhere.
Volunteers in large number also need to be raised and drilled well for duty under any disaster situations like earthquakes. Rescue equipment like heavy cranes and other gears are practically none at the disposal of the fire service. But government should aim to get them in adequate number under a time-bound framework and train personnel for operating them quickly and efficiently. In sum, government should beef up its abilities to draw from in the event of large-scale disasters striking, specially the urban areas. The preparedness should include both manpower and equipment.
The urban areas like Dhaka are in need of special protection as they hold the major concentrations of wealth or assets in the country. Resources are scarce and, therefore, preparations need to be taken to reduce the impact of disasters and in cases of their happening, to keep losses in different forms as low as possible
Shimul Biswas
Gulshan, Dhaka.