Preparedness against earthquake
Photo: Amdadul Huq / Driknews
On April 11 while I was working in my office I found that our building was continuously shaking. I was thinking if the magnitude of the earthquake were much higher, what would have happened? Most of the buildings would collapse, almost all the roads would be blocked, and there would be no place to take shelter as there is almost no playground or open space in Dhaka. In 1995 an earthquake killed more than six thousand people in Kobe of Japan where houses were built abiding by building code. So imagine what may happen if such an earthquake (which is likely to happen anytime) hits Bangladesh. If a strong earthquake hits the country, millions of people will be trapped inside buildings, millions of people will die and millions of people will become disabled forever. I request the government to take the following steps as soon as possible: 1. Identify the buildings which are not made following the building code to resist earthquake; demolish them as soon as possible; construct new buildings following the building code. 2. Ensure that not a single building is constructed without following the building code. If we do not follow the building code, a strong earthquake will cripple the nation. Let us be very serious and united at least on this issue.
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