Six community radio stations operating in the coastal region are now continuously working to make people aware about cyclonic storm Mahasen with a view to cut loss.
The stations are working in line with the Standing Orders on Disaster (SOD) of the Bangladesh government.
They are Radio Nalta 99.2 (Kaliganj, Satkhira), Sundarban 99.2 (Koyra, Khulna), Lokobetar 99.2 (Barguna Sadar), Krishi Radio 98.8 (Amtali, Barguna), Naf 99.2 (Cox's Bazar, Teknaf) and Sagargiri 99.2 (Sitakunda, Chittagong).
Information is provided to the coastal communities regarding preparedness for saving their lives, cattle and assets through 435 staff and volunteers, and 24,102 members of their listeners’ clubs around the radio stations, according to a press release of the Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communications (BNNRC).
They are repeatedly broadcasting special bulletins so that people could take initiatives in advance and reduce the damages.
The stations are maintaining full-time liaison with the disaster monitoring cells at the district- and upazila-levels. They are also keeping contact with Red Crescent members, scouts and disaster volunteers at the local levels. Besides these, the members of Radio Listeners’ Clubs are carrying out awareness campaign within their communities, neighbours and relatives.
Considering the importance of the situation, the radio stations have already extended their airtimes.
According to the statement, these six stations have preparations to keep the stations on-air round-the-clock. Generators and fuels are reserved so that any disruption in the power supply grid could not hamper broadcasting.
