International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction-2023: Active initiatives essential in natural disaster management
Md. Arafat Rahman :
Due to geographical location, Bangladesh has been affected by natural disasters at different times.
These catastrophic disasters include floods, cyclones, tidal surges, hurricanes, tornadoes, river erosion, coastal erosion, droughts, cold spells, etc. Bangladesh is also at risk of earthquakes due to its position between the seismic zone means Eurasian Plate, Indian Plate and Burma Plate. Bangladesh is in a precarious position due to global warming.
At the same time, climate change is a reality. The scale and severity of natural disasters due to climate change is increasing day by day.
Although our role in this is very insignificant, Bangladesh is suffering from the severe adverse effects of climate change.
Due to poverty and overcrowding, the impact of climate change is severely affecting the lives and livelihoods of the people in the coastal and riverine areas of Bangladesh.
Due to the adverse effects of climate change, unplanned urbanization, unplanned human intervention in nature and river governance, the risk of disaster in Bangladesh has increased several times.
A country’s long-achieved economic and social progress through various development plans may be lost due to disasters.
The Disaster Management Act 2012 has been enacted with the objective of enhancing the capacity of the people to mitigate the overall disaster including disaster preparedness, emergency humanitarian assistance for the distressed people and to manage the rehabilitation programs more efficiently.
The National Disaster Management Policy 2015 has been formulated with the powers given in Section 19 of the Disaster Management Act 2012.
It will be possible to bring good governance in disaster management through National Disaster Management Policy and ensure accountability of all stakeholders involved. A single catastrophe could push the country back decades.
Besides conducting various post-disaster rescue and rehabilitation activities, effective measures for disaster risk reduction and building efficient disaster management systems are the focus of all attention.
Bangladesh is one of the most affected countries in the world by climate change and the effects of climate change due to poverty and overcrowding are far more devastating for Bangladesh.
According to the World Risk Report 2011, Bangladesh ranks 6th in the world in terms of disaster risk.
Besides the loss of life and property in natural calamities at different times, the amount of economic loss has also increased which is holding back Bangladesh from its development progress.
The risk and loss of disaster is a huge obstacle in the way of human life and earning a decent living. Especially for the poorer sections of the population who are struggling to make ends meet.
Disasters not only affect the country or nation, but also have a profound adverse effect on the world. Changed technologies, socio-economic contexts, environmental and geographical disasters, climate change, the prevalence of HIV-AIDS, geological disasters and increasing population growth have intensified the risk of global disasters. This ongoing trend of change is a major obstacle to the world economy and the sustainable development of developing countries.
Despite the growing acceptance of disaster response capabilities and disaster risk reduction activities, effective disaster management remains a major challenge.
To address this challenge, it is recommended to include disaster risk reduction activities in various policies, plans and programs to ensure poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
This activity is also being welcomed in the regional and international arenas which is reflected in the various agreements and notifications signed between the countries in the last few years.
The Constitution of Bangladesh recognizes the right of every human being to equal opportunity and cooperation in disasters.
The Constitution of Bangladesh states that all people should have equal rights at all levels.
As the poorer sections of the population lose their livelihoods in the disaster, the Constitution of Bangladesh gives the affected population the right to get back their basic necessities of life.
The Disaster Management Act, 2012 has been enacted with the aim of alleviating the overall disaster of the people, providing emergency humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation programs to the aggrieved people more efficiently.
In addition, various existing laws in Bangladesh are involved in disaster risk reduction and disaster management.
Major development activities in Bangladesh are being hampered due to the disaster. Government and development agencies have increased funding for natural disasters and emergency humanitarian assistance.
Funding for ensuring humanitarian services in emergencies has almost doubled, including post-disaster rescue preparations.
In this context, the Government of Bangladesh is giving importance to disaster management as a mainstream in development plans and programs so that the overall disaster management activities come out of the relief dependent programs through disaster preparedness and risk reduction.
One of the ten development priorities in the 2010-2021 development plan of the Government of Bangladesh formulated in 2010 is to protect the environment, effectively address the problems caused by climate change and take effective measures on all issues that pollute the environment.
In the context of the plan 2010-2021, various proposals have been made to mitigate the risks posed by climate change and global warming, to deal with natural disasters, to prevent air and industrial pollution, to conserve forests and reservoirs, to develop waste management and to prevent river erosion.
The government formulated ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009’ under the Ministry of Forests and Environment in 2008.
The plan addresses a total of six pillars, such as protecting the poor and vulnerable people from the effects of climate change by ensuring food, health and social security, emphasizing overall disaster management to address the growing and recurring natural disaster risks , infrastructure in coastal and flood prone areas, such as cyclone and flood shelters and dams to address and mitigate the effects of climate change, research and knowledge management, carbon emissions and mitigation, efficiency enhancement and institutionalization.
After the catastrophic floods of 1988 and 1998 and the cyclones and tidal surges of 1991, the government decided to replace the traditional concept of disaster management with disaster risk reduction.
These concepts include: identifying disasters and risks, preparing people and giving equal importance to initiatives for overall disaster response.
Instead of the earlier concept of relief and rehabilitation, a structured framework for risk management is formulated with the participation of the people. Overall risk management framework is increasing the risk-taking capacity of at-risk populations and reducing their vulnerability to specific risks.
In order to build a comprehensive disaster management framework instead of a relief and rehabilitation strategy, the Government of Bangladesh has initiated various reforms in the field of disaster management. Emphasis is placed on various strategic issues in overall disaster management, such as: bringing professionalism to the disaster management system, integrating risk management programs into the mainstream of development activities, strengthening and empowering local government institutions, expanding the scope of preparedness activities, strengthening disaster response systems and strengthen food security and social security.
Md. Arafat Rahman, Columnist
Official of Southeast University, Dhaka
