Dear Sir,
I would like to convey my gratitude for letting us expressing our questions to “Write to the Editor” section of your renowned newspaper Dhaka Tribune.
Being a child, I have following pertinent questions on our preparation against the natural disaster ‘earthquake’. In recent times we have seen Nepal shattered massively in earth quakes. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated country and therefore, I think we are more vulnerable to any mega quake. We are in a huge earthquake risk. I canimagine that our country will be the same or even worse than Nepal as Bangladesh falls in Earthquake lines having 5 fault lines detected, including one line being near to our Dhaka city. So, please let me know how we can manage such massive disaster being a developing country.
- How will Bangladesh survive if there is any massive earthquake?
- Do we have any device that can predict earthquakes?
Yours Sincerely,
Fabiha Zahid
Class 4, Kingfisher
Sir John Wilson School
**
Dear Fabiha,
Thank you for asking such a relevant question.
Bangladesh, particularly in the urban areas, has far too many people living in far too little space.
That is why it is so worrying to imagine what would happen if a big earthquake hit us. We need to be ready, and for that, there is a lot of work to be done.
The people who help us in times of disaster – fire department, rescue workers, aid workers – need to be ready and trained. They need the money and government support so that they can spring into action when we need them.
We need to stop all the unplanned constructions going around the city, and the illegal filling of water bodies, which destroys the integrity of our soil.
New buildings should be made with earthquakes in mind, and old ones should be given special escape routes and other emergency features.
If an earthquake happens, every single one of us will be affected – even the rich and powerful. We all need to pool our resources together to make ourselves as earthquake-proof as possible.
The good news is that there are measures that can be taken to make us safer, and that as we are advancing as a country we are paying much closer attention to the problem than we did in the past.
Sincerely
Zafar Sobhan
Editor
Dhaka Tribune
Note: Send your kid’s letters to [email protected]
