Experts and administrators alike had this to say about Dhaka’s readiness to face a major earthquake: It is not.
At a workshop jointly organised by the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Plan International yesterday, there was consensus that the city, and indeed the country, have much to do to achieve a satisfactory level of earthquake disaster preparedness.
“Dhaka is not ready for it,” DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq told meeting attendees at Spectra Convention Centre in the capital’s Gulshan neighbourhood. “No one, including the city corporations, is truly prepared for a high magnitude earthquake.
“Although the country has become able to mitigate most natural and man-made disasters, there is no preparation for earthquake disaster at the national level, including in the most vulnerable Dhaka city,” Annisul Huq said as the chief guest of the event.
“Everyone needs to get involved with awareness and preparedness, including the city administration. We need to know what might happen, we need to model scenarios, we need to run drills and prepare emergency responders,” the Dhaka North mayor said.
Annisul said the Dhaka North, the Dhaka South and Sylhet City Corporation would buy equipments worth Tk350 crore over the next five years to ensure better earthquake rescue facilities.
Professor Dr ASM Maksud Kamal, who chairs the department of the disaster science and management at Dhaka University, said the country was in need of a comprehensive national disaster management programme.
“Despite much paperwork, implementation has been insufficient. Existing and new measures must be implemented,” he stressed.
Prof Kamal said major earthquakes in the region seemed to occur at 100-year intervals. “Since the last big earthquakes were centred on or near Srimongol in 1918 and 1922, another big earthquake is probably due soon.”
The 1918 trembler registered 7.4 on the Richter scale. The 1922 quake had a magnitude of 7.2, he added.
“We have identified 13 high risk areas, as far as seismic activity is concerned. The risk zones include Sreemangal, Sylhet, Cox’s Bazar and Tangail’s Madhupur,” Prof Kamal said while presenting a study on the chances of an earthquake in Dhaka.
He added that Dhaka city has two types of soil: 35% of the city is built on hard or red soil while the other 65% that is built on soft soil is more vulnerable to an earthquake.
Referring to a US university study, he said Dhaka was the second most vulnerable among 20 cities currently facing the risk of a large-scale earthquake; Tehran tops the list.
If an earthquake of 7.5 magnitude occurs on the Madhupur fault, around 72,000 building in Dhaka city would collapse and a further 135,000 buildings would be damaged Prof Kamal said.
Senait Gebregziabher, country director of Plan International Bangladesh, said: “We are also working with the city corporations on a journey towards a disaster-resilient Dhaka city.”
She said a plan should be made to reduce earthquake damages of Dhaka, while every service providing agencies concerned should be prepared.