Preventive measures can limit damages for major earthquakes: speakers
After a disaster occurs in Bangladesh, discussions and initiatives are planned, which do not last for more than a couple of weeks. However, necessary steps are needed to prevent disaster, said speakers at an event today.
If 80-90 percent of disaster prevention investment is done, it is possible to limit damages to 10-20 percent, they said.
The remarks came during the opening ceremony of the "International Seminar on Earthquake Resilience", organised by the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), under the initiative of the Urban Resilience Project funded by the World Bank at a city hotel yesterday.
Housing and Public Works Minister RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury also said due to the absence of major earthquakes in recent times, there is a lack of related strategies to mitigate the effects of such events.
He said that due to a lack of construction control and lack of ethics, several cities of the country including Dhaka and Chattogram have become very vulnerable.
Prime Minister's Adviser on Private Industry and Investment, Salman Fazlur Rahman said that there has been no major earthquake for 125 years. Experts fear that a major earthquake may strike at any time. So, the government is identifying the problems in this regard. This should be done as soon as possible.
Director of Urban Resilience Project Abdul Latif Helali said, "In the past 10 years, our intellectual capacity has been developed through national and international experts under the discussion of this project. Now, it is necessary to set up a specialised technical institute to apply this capability sustainably. No organisation in Bangladesh has the capacity to assess the risk of buildings. Learning after an earthquake will not solve the issue. So, we have to start working."
Nabirul Islam, secretary to housing and public works ministry; Rajuk Chairman Maj Gen (retd) Siddiqur Rahman Sarkar; Urban Resilience Project International Team Leader Dr SK Ghosh; Professor of Tokyo University Kimirio Meguro; BUET Professor Mehdi Ahmad Ansari, and former chairman of RAJUK Sultan Ahmed, and others were present at the seminar.
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