Thursday | 16 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Thursday | 16 January 2025 | Epaper

Bangladesh’s capability to cope with natural disasters

Published : Saturday, 26 June, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 874
Md Zillur Rahaman
Floods, tidal waves, cyclones, tornadoes, droughts, etc are the regular incidents in this country. In fact, Bangladesh is a disaster prone country due to its geological structure and geographical location. For these natural disasters Bangladesh faces huge loss of life, crops and resources. In 1991, about 1.5 lakh people lost their lives on the coast of Cox's Bazar, Chittagong. In 2007, about 15 million people were affected by floods and river erosion in the country. Country's agrarian economy faces tremendous challenges frequently.

According to the 2017 Global Climate Change Risk Index, Bangladesh ranks sixth in the world as a climate risk country. Floods and cyclones cause a loss of US$ 3.2 billion or Tk 25,600 crore every year in Bangladesh, which is 2.2 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). On the other hand, the 2018 World Risk Report analyzed the risks of earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and floods in 172 countries.

It has been verified whether the countries have the capacity to deal with these disasters. The report lists the top 15 countries at risk due to natural disasters, where Bangladesh in ninth place.

This risk index takes into account the risk of natural disasters as well as the extent to which the country is prepared to deal with disasters. In that case the situation or building code of the buildings constructed in those countries, the level of poverty line and the plan to deal with the post-disaster situation are considered. For this reason, despite being prone to natural disasters, many countries are not on the risk list. Such as Japan and Chile, which are constantly at risk of earthquakes but the names of these two countries are outside the top 20 risky countries. In addition, the Netherlands, which has struggled with rising sea levels for hundreds of years, is at 65 on the risk list.

According to another data from 2020, 8 of the 10 countries mostly affected by the disaster are in Asia and the number of deaths due to disasters in the last 20 years is more than 1.2 million. During this time, 112 million people of Bangladesh have been victims of disaster. According to the report, the highest number of disaster in the last 20 years occurred in 2002 and that year, 658 million people were victim worldwide. On an average, 200 million people become victim of natural disasters every year and almost 60,000 people die worldwide.

However, in the last few decades, Bangladesh has achieved a lot in coping with natural disasters. The green belt project was initiated in the coastal areas, especially after the catastrophic cyclone of 1991 and this project later played an effective role in reducing the damage caused by other natural disasters in the coastal areas. In addition to the abundant cyclone shelters in the coastal areas, extensive afforestation, especially the planting of mangrove trees, has made it possible to build strong cyclone resistance as like shield.

Data indicates that the number of death due to natural disasters has reduced significantly. It was possible due to the capacity building to deal with natural disasters. People's awareness of disaster management has increased. Simultaneously, infrastructure and pre-disaster recovery initiatives are two a great achievement for Bangladesh. Therefore, capability of Bangladesh to face natural disaster is appreciated worldwide and is the country is considered as a role model in the world in dealing with cyclones and floods.

However, as a single country, our risk is highest. In such a reality, the regional office of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) has been inaugurated in Bangladesh in September 2020. South Asia is prone to various climate change related disasters such as cyclones, floods, tidal waves, droughts, landslides and avalanches. If the global temperature rises by only 1.5 points, the danger in our region will increase manifold. As a result, countries around the world need to play a stronger role in tackling climate change and raising awareness, including enhancing collective capacity to deal with disasters.

However, researchers say that one of the main sources of biodiversity and environmental protection is the Sundarbans and the green belt of the coastal region. In the time of Sidr, Aila, Bulbul and more recently Yaas, the Sundarbans has acted as a bulwark while the existence of the Sundarbans and such natural forests is under threat due to some man-made causes.

The Rampal coal-based power plant is being built next to the Sundarbans has become a critical issue. If this continues, it will not take long for the only natural bulwark Sundarbans to be lost. For this, besides making everyone aware, the government should also come forward to protect the Sundarbans. In order to be successful in dealing with disasters, we need to be more aware, vigilant and attentive as well as capable in these issues.

People do not have the power to prevent natural disasters; they also do not know how to avoid losses. However, disaster preparedness and precautionary measures can save a lot of lives and resources. For this, as public awareness is needed. It is also necessary to build infrastructure. Necessary shelters, more green belts can be created in the coastal areas in order to preserve public interest. Measures needed to be taken to make disaster response capabilities more sustainable and long lasting.
The writer is a banker and freelance contributor








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