Sustainable Disaster Management in Coastal Areas of Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is a country that has been intrinsically associated with natural disaster and vulnerability. Bangladesh's geographical vulnerability lies in the fact that it is an exceedingly flat,low-lying, alluvial plain covered by over 230 rivers and rivulets with approximately 580kilometres of exposed coastline along the Bay of Bengal. In addition, there are three geological faults running underneath the capital of' Dhaka. As a result of its geography, Bangladesh frequently suffers from devastating floods, cyclones and storm surges, tornadoes, riverbank erosion, and drought as well as constituting a very high-risk location for seismic activity. With the prolonged natural calamities and geographical location makes it one of the poorest countries among the third world countries. Whole economy of Bangladesh has been ruined and level of poverty increases with the prevailing disaster scenario.Disasters are inevitable in human lif. There are natural disasters like Cyclone ,drought, flood, earthquake etc. 1-lowever there are some manmade disasters like deforestation, epidemic, pollution, industrial accidents, nuclear explosion etc. Bangladesh is a disaster prone country of an area of about 1,47,570 sq. km . with population nearing 140 million. Bangladesh becomes the worst victim of natural calamities causing colossal loss of lives and properties. Disaster management has become an important national and international issue particularly in the context of some highly damaging disasters occurred in recent past over the coastal areas of Bangladesh like Sidr and Tsunami. The coastal areas of Bangladesh have been exposed to natural disasters from time immemorial. Natural disasters in these region increases the vulnerability and in recent years it has been serious threat to the overall development of the country. The aim of the present project would be to highlight techniques and strategies for sustainable disaster management in the coastal areas. The adverse impacts of all the natural hazards affecting socio-econornic condition need to be reduced for sustainable development. Disaster management includes all aspects of planning of and responding to disasters. There are vast opportunities of research and development on such issues and to develop new mitigation planning and rehabilitation techniques that will contribute towards sustainable development of the society. It is also felt that a comprehensive and sustainable disaster iv management system should be adopted for preparation, mitigation and prevention of the disaster impacts. In this research it is investigated how integrated approach of disaster management can help to minimize the loss of lives and property during natural calamities and utilize resources to mitigate the POSt disaster situation in effective manner achieving sustainable development. Keeping this view in mind, disaster and related terminologies are briefly described. Data for this paper were collected from Sidr hit Amtali upazila as primary data through a prescribed questionnaire. During study different categories of affected people were interviewed based on the level of practical knowledge, experience and livelihood with the disaster. For relevant study, the disasters in Bangladesh and cyclones recorded are described. For better comparison of the national disaster management to the global disaster management aspect is also included in the paper. The project is mainly bascd upon the practical experience of Sidr-2007 in the coastal area. So, the related data is illustrated in the paper. At last, the analysis of the findings and proposed solutions with some recommendations are made for betterment of disaster management system. The proper application of the recommendations and solutions will be helpful to reduce the sufferings of the people and there will be possible a sustainable development in the region as a whole.