Editor's Pick

Of disaster preparedness for Dhaka

12 February 2010, 18:00 PM
EDITORIAL
Muhammad Zamir

I came to Dhaka in February, 1950, exactly sixty years ago. At that time, Dacca, as it was then known, was a small town of about one hundred and seventy thousand people. Limited to a large extent to the southern tract bordering the river Buriganga, its outer limit included the Dhaka University campus and the lush green Ramna Park. There was very little motorized vehicular traffic and negligible pollution. There were also designated public toilets in different parts of the city -- Narinda, Wari, Gopibagh, Ganderia, Shamibagh, Islampur, Chawk Bazar and Nawabpur and other facilities that included an effective emergency fire service. There was also steady supply of water in the pipelines and road side hydrants. The urban situation has not improved over the years. It has deteriorated markedly in terms of facilities available for Dhaka's population of over 16 million. Poor urban planning, flouting of zonal regulations, excessive density in terms of inhabitants and presence of a floating population of over four million have exacerbated conditions for the worse. This has led to water-logging, poor sanitation arrangements and absence of conveniences in most areas. The healthcare matrix has also suffered. Public sector provisions for the poor and the lower middle class are practically below par. Corruption, to a great extent, has encouraged this malaise. Over the past four decades I have had the good fortune to visit more than forty-five capitals in all the six continents. In every city I have noted the efforts undertaken by those associated with city governance in trying to provide not only a pollution free environment but also an effective utilities network for the inhabitants. It has been interesting to see the manner in which the city administrators carefully monitor and effectively take care of the needs of the citizens. This is achieved through short and long term plans and also through contingency planning. The latter is meant for emergency situations arising out of a possible natural disaster. In the case of Dhaka, our city fathers, during different regimes, appear to have decided that the people of this city can be taken for granted and treated with lack of respect and that there will be, at the end of the day, little need for redress of grievances. There is also very little coordination between this civic body and other related branches of government responsible for utility management, sanitation, communication and transportation networking and urban planning. The net result is an abysmal infrastructural paradigm. I had expressed my concern about lack of proper city planning after the disastrous fire that had engulfed the upper portions of Bashundhara Complex on Panthapath. The emergency services and the firefighting equipment available with us at that time proved to be seriously limited. This constraint caused great harm for all concerned. I am drawing the attention of the relevant departments once again to the potential danger prevailing in Dhaka after what has recently happened as a result of the earthquake in Haiti. Nearly 200,000 people have perished in that unfortunate country as a consequence of this urban natural disaster. Lack of preparedness in handling such a catastrophe made things more difficult for survivors. The question that has arisen amongst many of us is whether our authorities, particularly the City authorities are prepared to handle any similar eventuality. Experts from the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme under the Food and Disaster Management Ministry have concluded after an in-depth study that there is fair chance of such a major earthquake hitting Dhaka and its adjacent areas in the not too distant future because of the Madhupur Fault. It has also been pointed out that more than 100,000 people could perish in such an eventuality and that the medical infrastructure would be severely affected. I do not want to be seen as an alarmist. However, it is equally true that we have had several mild tremors over the past year in the adjoining regions. We need to realize that an earthquake in a densely populated urban area like Dhaka would leave millions vulnerable to lack of drinking water, gas, medical care and power. We have thousands of high rise residential buildings of five floors and at least one hundred with more than eight floors, some rising to over twenty-five. In many cases the access to these buildings are limited to narrow lanes which are unsuitable for large fire trucks. There are also no public hydrants and suitable water supply points. Heavy concrete lifting equipment, so necessary for recovery of trapped individuals and also for removing rubble is also mostly absent. Bangladesh is respected the world over for its ability to manage natural disasters. However such experience relates mostly to cyclones or floods and open rural areas. That unfortunately would not apply in the case of an earthquake hitting a major urban city like Dhaka or Chittagong. In other large cities of the world, there are, as a matter of routine fire exit drills in schools. There are also contingency plans for emergency medical teams and shelters with medical provisions. We do not have such potential networking in place in Dhaka. Time has now come for us to take the hazards pertaining to Dhaka more seriously. We have many significant and serious problems that need urgent attention. This includes the alarming recession of our ground water table (the main source for our drinking water), the growing rate of pollution and environmental degradation, absence of proper sanitation that affects healthcare, collection of trash and household waste and their disposal, the terrible traffic problem, unplanned and unregulated construction. We also have inadequate public facilities in the form of parks, play grounds (so necessary especially for children), water bodies and public toilets. We have rivers all around the city. However they are notorious for their lack of cleanliness and pollution (thanks to toxic effluents being dumped into them by irresponsible industries). We have an election coming up for our Dhaka City Corporation. One can only hope that those elected will identify and then address on a priority basis the various points outlined above. An honest internal regulatory body, a bi-partisan approach and non-politicized perspective planning will assist the dynamics. Transfer of technology from our development partners will also help in finding solutions. The Dhaka City Corporation might find that it needs more resources for capacity building. That could be obtained by this institution issuing term deposit bonds backed by the Bangladesh Bank. We have a problem in our hands but it is not intractable. What we need is necessary commitment whereby measures can be undertaken through the process of transparency and accountability. Muhammad Zamir is a former Secretary and Ambassador and can be reached at mzamir@dhaka.net

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