Community involvement in earthquake preparedness stressed

A team of Japanese experts on Saturday conducted an earthquake evacuation drill at Elenbari Officers Colony at Tejgaon in the city to give a first hand idea to the colony inhabitants of how community people should react during a massive tremor.
The inhabitants of the colony participated in a drill to practice how they will evacuate from their building and gather at a safe place, if any earthquake hits the capital. Earlier, the Japanese experts provided educational training with videos and showed how a family can make an emergency bag with live saving essentials like torch lights, water, dry food and medicine.
They suggested the inhabitants to keep the emergency bag beside their main outdoor as they can easily pick it up when they will evacuate during tremor.
Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense Department provided support to the Japanese experts in conducting the evacuation drill.
This drill ‘CBDM’ Community Based Disaster Management) was conducted under CNCRP project (Capacity Development of Natural Disaster Resistant techniques of Construction and Retrofitting for Public Buildings), implemented by Public Works Department (PWD) with technical support of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Leader of Japanese expert team Fumio Kaneko said earthquake evacuation drill among the community is a common practice in Japan as it is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world. “Like Japan, we would like to introduce such kind of drill in allover Dhaka, so that the city dwellers would be able to prepare them against earthquake,” he said.
JICA expert team member Mahbub Reza said creating community awareness about earthquake is an integral part of earthquake preparedness. Such kind of training will help the community to take proper action during any intensified earthquake, he said. He said the JICA expert team has already conducted such a kind of drill in Motijheel colony and has a plan to conduct a series of such trainings in other colonies in the city. Bangladesh is located on some active faults, and every 100-150 years of its history, the country has been affected by major earthquakes. More than 100 years have past since a heavy earthquake the Great Assam earthquake hit Bangladesh in 1897.
According to the seismic zoning map, prepared by the Bangladesh University of Engineer and Technology (BUET), 43 percent areas in Bangladesh are rated high risk, 41 percent moderate and 16 percent low.