Govt plans lightning shelters in high-risk zones

 
The government plans to build specialised shelters in lightning-prone areas and train 100,000 volunteers to respond to major earthquakes as part of efforts to strengthen disaster preparedness, Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu said on Wednesday.

He said lightning strikes kill around 250 to 300 people in Bangladesh every year, making them a major cause of disaster-related deaths, exceeding those from cyclones and floods.

The minister was speaking at a national roundtable titled “Institutionalising Inclusive, Community-Led Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation” at the Bangla Vision office in Dhaka.

Muslim Aid-UK Bangladesh Field Office, the Eco-Social Development Organization (ESDO) and Bangla Vision jointly organised the event to discuss community-led disaster preparedness, climate adaptation, sustainable livelihoods and access to safe water and sanitation.

Dulu said the proposed lightning shelters would be built in vulnerable areas, particularly the haor wetlands and northern parts of the country. The three-storey structures would have sirens and sensors to alert people to approaching lightning and provide shelter for farmers, fishermen and their livestock.

Solar power systems would keep the warning equipment operational during power outages, he said, adding that a project proposal had been prepared with expert input. He urged NGOs and private organisations to give greater attention to preventing lightning-related deaths.

On earthquake preparedness, the minister said Prime Minister Tareque Rahman had given the issue special importance. The government had started compiling a database of volunteers to train 100,000 people, and the training programme was already under way.

He said 445 emergency gathering points, including playgrounds and school and college grounds, had been designated in Dhaka North and South and officially gazetted.

The government had also collected information on heavy machinery owned by private contractors, privately available helicopters and beds in private hospitals to support rescue and emergency operations after a major earthquake.

Stressing coordinated efforts, Dulu said government agencies, private organisations and NGOs must work together to improve disaster response.

The roundtable also presented a 2024 baseline survey under the Inclusive Community Resilience to Disaster and Climate Vulnerabilities (ICRDCV) project, implemented by ESDO with support from Muslim Aid.