INTRODUCTION

Bangladesh, a country of 15 million people, is the largest delta in world formed by three mighty rivers. It lies well within the tropic and shares a vast length of coast with the Bay of Bengal in the south and south-east. Because of its geographical, climatic and ecological features natural disasters are very common in Bangladesh. Not even a year passes without natural calamities causing severe damage to life and property. The common disasters that generally devastate Bangladesh are cyclone, tidal surge, floods, tornado, river bank erosion etc. Of these, tropical cyclones are the most common ones. The cyclones with severe wind speed are usually followed by a tidal surge lashing and washing away everything that stands on their way and thus cause enormous loss to human lives, properties, standing crops, etc. The devastating effects of the disaster threaten the survivors of starvation, disease, death, crop failure and economic dislocation. Bangladesh, being a developing country with one of the lowest per capita income in the world, can not afford to sustain such enormous loss to its economy. Proper management to reduce the adverse effects of these disasters has become an imperative for sustainable economic development. Over the years, a system to mitigate the effects of such disasters has developed through trial and error basing on the experiences. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the existing disaster management system in Bangladesh. The study will remain confined to tropical cyclones only which commonly occur in the country and the steps which are taken to mitigate their devastating effects.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this paper is to study the existing disaster management system in vogue for mitigating the effects of tropical cyclones in Bangladesh.

METHODOLOGY
This study is based on following:

a.

Consultation of available literature related to the disaster management.

SCOPE
This paper will cover following:

a. b. c. d. e.

Cyclone and its effects. Economic impact of cyclonic disasters Functional elements of disaster management Present System of disaster management relating to cyclones. Challenges involved in effective management of the disaster

CYCLONE AND ITS EFFECTS

Formation of Cyclone: Our planet earth receives all its energies from the sun. Solar radiation does not fall with equal intensity on all parts of the world. Solar radiation is maximum at the earth's equator and minimum at the poles. Again different surfaces on the earth have got different capacities for absorption and emission of solar radiation. Thus areas on earth are heated unequally. These variable factors give rise to low and high atmospheric pressure areas on the earth. It is because of the existence of the low-pressure areas that we receive bad weather of cyclone. As soon as a low-pressure area is formed, air from all directions converges to wares this area. The air is also made very moist by rapid evaporation into it from the warm ocean. This phenomenon is called low-level convergence. It causes the air to spin faster and the air spirals inwards at an increasing rate causing heavy rain and thunderstorm. In the low pressure region the air rapidly moves upwards and diverges. A cyclone can extend up to a height of 15-16 kilometers. However, all the depressions may not develop into cyclones. It has been seen over the years that cyclone generally hits this region during the period April May and September- December. According to Rahman (2004), a data of 200 years shows that 09 major cyclones hit this region from April to May and 13 cyclones hit in the month of September to December. Elements of Cyclone: Cyclone has 03 main elements. These are as under:

a.

Eye.

The most individual feature of a cyclone is its 'eye' usually found in severe

cyclones. The eye is small and almost circular, coincides with the area of lowest pressure.

b.

Core.

The main core of the cyclone is circular or nearly circular having a diameter

ranging from 150-750 kilometers. 2

c.

Tail.

A long tail often accompanies the main cyclone. The tail may extend up to a few

hundred miles. The tail usually crosses the land well before the main core of the cyclone.

Classification of Cyclone: Cyclone in the South-Asian Sub-Continent is presently classified according to their intensity and the following nomenclature is in use:

a. b. c. d.

Depression Cyclone Storm Severe Cyclonic Storm Severe Cyclonic Storm of Hurricane Intensity

: : : :

Winds up to 62 kilometers / hour. Winds from 63-87 kilometers / hour. Winds from 88-117 kilometers / hour. Winds above 117 kilometers / hour.

Most of the death and destruction associated with tropical cyclones is caused by three-prong effects- wind, flood produced by rains and potentially the most lethal of all, storm tide.

Effects of Cyclone: Hurricane/Cyclone has become part of life of the people who live in the coastal region and offshore islands of Bangladesh. Because of the funnel shaped coast, Bangladesh very often becomes the landing ground of cyclone formed in the Bay of Bengal. The country gets badly affected because of the low flat terrain, high density of population and poorly built houses. Most of the damage occurs in the coastal districts which are: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Khulna. Patuakhali. Barisal Noakhali Chittagong. Cox's Bazar. Off Shore Islands. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Bhola. Hatiya. Swandip. Monpura. Urirchar. 3

(6)

Kutubdia.

Major Cyclones: A summary of details and effects of major cyclones that hit Bangladesh over the years is given at ANNEX A (Rahman, 2004).

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CYCLONIC DISASTERS

Impact on Economy In addition to a heave toll on human lives, cyclones have a devastating effect on the economic development. The loss amounts to billions of dollars and the cost of rehabilitation is also very high. According to UNDP (2003), an estimate of the economic loss caused by three major cyclones is given below: a. The severe cyclone of 12th November 1970 took a toll of 0.3 million human lives and put property damages to more than one billion US dollars. b. Yet another worst cyclone which hit Bangladesh coast on april 1991 killed about 0.14 million people and property damages were more than two billion US dollars. Economic Cost of SIDR the latest cyclone that hit Bangladesh The super cyclone SIDR that hit Bangladesh on 15th November 2007 devastated vast areas in the south-western coast. The cyclone severely ravaged 04 districts Barguna, Bagerhat, Patuakhali and Pirojpur and badly damaged another 08 districts. According to official estimates, 1.5 million houses were damaged, 4.1 million trees destroyed and one crop in one million hectare of land fully or partially lost. The cyclone hit a time when Aman rice, the prime source of staple food was about to be harvested.

According to the official estimate the loss in rice equivalent was 535,000 tons in the 04 severely affected districts. In financial term it amounts to about 100 million US dollars. Needless to mention the losses sustained in households, live stocks, fisheries, forestry, infrastructures, businesses and many other sectors of the economy. Hossain and Deb (2007) report an estimate of the damage caused by the SIDR is given at ANNEX B .

Economic Cost of Reconstruction and Rehabilitation The reconstruction and rehabilitation costs are many times higher than those of the actual damage. It takes a lot of resources, efforts and time to bring the area under normalcy and restart economic activity. An enormous amount of fund is to be disbursed to small and medium enterprises so that they can start functioning.

Impact on the Environment The adverse effect inflicted by cyclonic disasters on the environment and ecology of the affected area is very appalling. The land instantly loses fertility because of salinity, the trees are uprooted, the bio-diversity and the wild life come to stand still and the whole area becomes barren. It takes years to restore what was lost in a matter of hours.

FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT

General: The disaster management framework is composed of actions before disaster, actions immediately after disaster and long-term recovery process following a disaster. During the process prevention and preparedness are pre-event elements; response (rescue and relief) occurs immediately after the event and rehabilitation actions as long-term recovery after the event. Disaster/cyclone management cycle can be described in following 3 phases:

a.

Pre-Disaster Risk Reduction Phase. i) Mitigation. ii)Preparedness.

b. c.

Disaster Phase. Post-Disaster Recovery Phase. i) Relief. Ii) Rehabilitation. iii) Reconstruction

These activities related to different elements of disaster management are described with the help of Disaster Cycle, as shown at ANNEX C ( Majumdar, 2004).

.Main Elements of Disaster Management: Disaster prevention and preparedness consist of measures both long-term and short-term. These involve a variety of structural, non-structural and institutional arrangements. A functional structure of disaster management is shown at ANNEX D (Majumdar, 2004).

EXISTING POLICY FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT

General: In the past, disasters were largely considered to be acts of God. Only temporary Government responses had been recognized to distribute relief during post-disaster phase. But over the years, Government has begun to put more emphasis on ways and means of reducing human, economic and environmental costs of disasters. It has been done through enhancing national disaster management capacity to address planning for prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery and development activities. The Government believes that with elementary preparedness and preventive measures such as awareness building, improvement in warning systems, construction of shelters and embankments, basic institutional arrangements, streamlining procedures, field level action planning etc an effective management can be developed.

Actions Taken by the Government: The government has taken a number of significant steps for building up institutional arrangements from national to the union levels for effective and systematic disaster management. A number of s Councils and Committees have been formed to deal with disasters. To maintain proper

coordination amongst the concerned Ministries, departments, agencies, Local Government Bodies and the community people, the Government has formulated a set of mechanisms for Council and Committees from national level down to the grass-root levels. A chronology of the actions taken by the Government to mitigate the disaster is given as follows: 1971: Cyclone Preparedness Programme was established by the then Red Cross Society 1985: Standing Orders on Cyclone was published. 1992: After the cyclone of 1991, as many as 184 numbers of cyclone shelters were

a.

of Bangladesh. b. c. constructed. d. e. f. 1992: Disaster Management Bureau (DMB) was established. 1993: National Disaster Management Council was formed. 1994: Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation has been restructured and renamed as

Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief which is now the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management. g. Standing Orders on Disaster was published in Bengali replacing Standing Orders for Cyclone 1985.

h.

Standing Orders on Disaster was published in English with necessary review of the

Bengali one.

Organizational Structure at the National Level. The existing organizational structure at national level is listed as follows:

a.

National Disaster Management Council (NDMC), headed by the Prime Minister to

formulate and review policies and issue directives to all concerns.

b.

Inter-Ministerial Disaster Management CO-ordination Committee (IMDMCC), headed

by the Minister in charge of Ministry of Food and Disaster Management to implement policies and decisions of NDMC.

c.

National Disaster Management Advisory Committee (NDMAC), headed by an

experienced person nominated by the Prime Minister.

d.

Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP) Implementation Board, headed by the Secretary,

Ministry of Food and Disaster Management to review preparedness activities in the initial stage of impending cyclone.

e.

Disaster Management Training and Public Awareness Building Task Force, headed by

the Director General of DMB to co-ordinate training and public awareness activities of the Government, NGOs and organizations.

f.

Focal Point Operation Co-ordination of Disaster Management, headed by the Director

General of DMB to review and co-ordinate the activities of various agencies and contingency plan prepared by concerned department.

g.

NGO Coordination Committee on Disaster Management (NGOCC), headed by the

Director General of DMB.

Organizational Structure at Field Level. Listed as follows:

a.

District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC), headed by the Deputy Commissioner

(DC) to co-ordinate and review disaster management activities at district level. 7

b.

Upazila Disaster Management Committee (UZDMC), headed by the Upazila Nirbahi

Officer (UNO) to co-ordinate and review activities at Upazila level. c. Union Disaster Management Committee (UDMC), headed by the Chairman of Union

Parishad (UP) to co-ordinate and review activities of concerned Union. Structural organization of National, District and Thana level committees are given at Annex D, E and F respectively.

Disaster Preparedness Mechanism. The Government has formulated a set of mechanism to maintain proper co-ordination amongst concerned Ministries, government organizations and line agencies. To make it operative, a guidebook titled Standing Orders on Disaster has been published as a basic tool. It outlines the activities of each Ministries, major agencies and departments. In this effort, a comprehensive national policy on disaster management has been designed for consideration of the Government. The entire preparedness mechanism also meets the requirement of integration of the Armed Forces and reflects the crucial role of DDMCs, UZDMCs and UDMCs.

Disaster Mitigation Practice. The Government at present gives equal importance to both structural and nonstructural mitigation measures. It is strongly believed that nonstructural measures need to be complemented by structural measures in order to modify or reduce some disaster effects.

a.

Structural Mitigation.

As part of structural measures, the Government with its own and external resources has so far constructed 1841 cyclone shelters for evacuation. In addition, about 3931 kilometers long coastal embankment to protect coastal land from inundation by tidal waves and storm-surges have been constructed (UNDP, 2003). b. Non-structural Mitigation.

Non-structural measures focus on preparedness and possibilities to reduce risks and losses. These also highlight better co-ordination mechanisms between all actors involved during all phases of any disaster. Such measures under the project of Support to Comprehensive Disaster Management: BGD/92/002 involve: i) Legislation, Policy and Plan. ii) Training and Public Awareness. iii) Institutional Arrangement. iv) Warning System. 8

v) Establishment of Local Action Plan. vi) Community- based programmes.

Legislation and Policy. The disaster management legislation (Act) and a policy are under consideration of the Government. These are aimed to establish machinery through the State, Local Government and public corporations, clarifying responsibilities and providing plans and policies related to preparedness and emergency measures. This provides rehabilitation programs with a view to preserving social order and security of the public welfare. It defines threat and clarifies the inter linkage of national policy with other policies of development. Policy also covers operational activities concerning mobilization and deployment of national resources and request for inter-national assistance. Training. DMB as a professional organization has so far conducted training courses, workshops and seminars. A large number of participants attended the program covering government and semigovernment officials of different levels, elected public representatives, representatives of mass media, teachers, religious leaders and members of fishermen community.

Public Awareness. As a part of public awareness activities, booklets containing information about cyclone, flood etc and calendars, posters are regularly distributed up to grass-root levels by DMB. In order to raise awareness, a chapter of disaster issues and concept has been included in the educational curricula from class V to XII. The DMB also contributes to non-structural mitigation measures through:

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Logistic Support. Training and Awareness Building of Stakeholders. Capacity Building of Executives. Warning Systems. Action Plan Preparation.

Emergency Response and Relief Management. For the purpose of emergency response and relief management in post-disaster phase, the Government has designed mechanisms to operate under following requirements:

a. b.

Warning Dissemination and Evacuation. Search and Rescue. 9

c. d.

Health Care. Relief Operations.

Emergency Operation Centres (EOC). The EOC is activated with the first information of emergency situation and works on the direction from IMDMCC/NDMC for handling the situation. EOC maintains contact with warning issuing agencies of the Government and CPP throughout the disaster period. It ensures timely dissemination of warning at grass-root levels through CPP, DCs, UNOs, electronic and news media. For eventual evacuation, EOC plays a vital role in maintaining links with all actors involved in the operation.

Medical Support. In the face of disaster, medical teams are mobilized by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with necessary medicines and medical kits for primary health care and treatment. If the devastation takes a catastrophe, voluntary and social organizations comprising doctors quickly move to the scenes with medicines, necessary items and surgical equipment to work alongside the Government medical teams. After primary medical care, seriously injured and sick people are taken to the hospitals. The Public Health Engineering Directorate arranges for safe drinking water, water purifying tablets, oral saline, bleaching powder etc.

Recovery and Rehabilitation. The Government has an elaborate system for need assessment at grass-root levels. Here UZDMC and UDMC play an important role. For quick assessment for both immediate and long-term needs, the pre-designed demand forms are filled in and sent to DDMCs for onward transmission to Ministry of Food and Disaster Management. The process continues till the time that affected people become able to get back to their normal and economic activities.

Institutions Playing Pivotal Role. Listed as follows: a. b. c. d. The Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization. (SPARRSO). The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD). The Bangladesh Television and Radio Bangladesh. Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) and other Voluntary Organizations.

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Role of NGOs. The issue of NGO participation in disaster management incorporates training, preparedness, awareness, housing and reconstruction. Social issues such as food distribution, relief distribution and micro-financing etc also play a constructive role in disaster mitigation. The roles that NGOs play are: a. b. c. Pre-disaster role includes mitigation, preparedness and awareness. During disaster role includes rescue and relief operations. Post-disaster role includes rehabilitation and recovery.

.Special Types of Assistance. These preparedness-measures are as follows: a. b. c. d. Military assistance. Special technology. Search and rescue. Non-material assistance.

COMMUNITY-BASED MANAGEMENT
During post-disaster emergency phase, the people and nearest communities meet most of the survival needs for the distressed. Let us take the case of devastating cyclone of April 29-30, 1991. The operational NGOs took almost a week to mobilize. The US Army and others began arriving on March 16. In this critical period of over two weeks, the people and immediate communities met all emergency survival needs of millions. Same picture remains during flood 1998. Nobody in Bangladesh has ever tried to put a value of care, love, affection and prayers that were extended by the local community. The concept of of the people, by the people and for the people always works well in case of mitigating disasters. Community-based Cyclone Preparedness Program. In November 1970, Bangladesh was hit by the worst cyclone in recorded history. The main reason of loss of lives and property was the failure to disseminate warnings against approaching cyclone. A year later, the International Federation of the Red Cross Societies (IFRC) initiated a project entitled CPP. The core issue of the program is networking of over 33000 trained and dedicated volunteers. Spread over entire 710 kilometers long coastline and offshore islands, there is a team of twelve volunteers in each village elected by the villagers. Their responsibilities are8: Disseminating cyclone warning signals. Assisting people in evacuation and taking shelter. Rescuing affected population. 11

a. b. c.

d. e. f.

Providing first aid to the injured. Assisting in relief and rehabilitation operations. Assisting in participatory community development activities.

The dissemination of warning to over 11 million people living in risk is the primary responsibility of the officials of the Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP). It starts with the collection of meteorological data from BMD and transmitting that to CPP officials through its own high frequency radio network. From there the warnings are disseminated to general public at risk through a combination of VHF signals, public announcements, warning flags, sirens and word of mouth.

Disaster Management and the Armed Forces. The Armed Forces plays an important role during any emergency. Their efforts are primarily directed to relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. The Armed Forces assist civil authority in areas of coordination, , evacuation (normal and medical) of casualties, rescue operation, supply of food, mass feeding, water supply, food distribution and establishment of temporary cemeteries(UNDP, 2003). They also render assistance in emergency housing and shelter, protection of life and property (by prevention of looting and fire fighting), emergency repair and construction of roads and bridges.

Asset Building and Social Protection. In risk reduction, transfer of funds from individuals abroad and from micro-credit schemes to assist recovery has been a notable feature of recent disaster events. In addition, policy and practice in the prevention and mitigation of risk has come to acknowledge many of the some asset building processes, including: Diversification of income sources. Development of micro-credit, small-banking systems and micro-insurance. Diversification of agricultural production. Development of local network and knowledge base. Strengthening local coping mechanisms. Development of buffers to cushion the trauma of disasters. Development of storage of crops and seeds and community grain banks.

a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

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MAJOR CHALLENGES
Based on the existing achievements and past experiences, there has been a growing recognition in Bangladesh that renewed efforts should be directed toward more comprehensive programming that takes account of all elements of disaster handling. The programme should adopt an umbrella approach that will encompass all aspects of risk management and move from a single agency response strategy to a whole holistic strategy. It should reduce the long-term risk and focus on capacity building, partnership development, community empowerment and economic upliftment of the disaster prone areas. However, there are some challenges which need to be addressed. These are :

a. b.

Integration of disaster mitigation in development program. Multi-sectoral and inter-departmental co-ordination and multi-hazard approach of

management planning. c. d. e. f. Long-term development plan for the hazard prone areas. Regional and international co-operation. Capacity building to suit the local conditions and community. Community participation at every level from decision making to implementation of

project. g. Social preparation through public awareness and community capacity building to cope

with the hazards. h. Reducing dependence on government and building a culture of self-help. Encourage the use of traditional knowledge and networking of knowledge based

a.

organizations.

13

CONCLUSION
. The coastal areas of Bangladesh frequently become subject to cyclonic disasters which severely

affect the economic growth of the country. Highest priority has been attached to disaster management. Our experience of handling disasters in the past has paved the way to comprehensive disaster management programme at national level. Developing public awareness, co-ordination of various aspects down to the grass root level, integration of various agencies including NGOs have enabled us to take appropriate measures at pre, during and post disaster period. Though at present we are much better prepared to combat disaster than any time in the past, yet our resource constraints had always been a major hurdle to cope up with the extent of damage and sufferings caused by disasters. Therefore in order to achieve sustainable economic development, we need to incorporate components of disaster reduction, mitigation and preparedness in our economic systems.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books 1 Mondal, P. (2002). Role of NGOs in disaster preparedness in Bangladesh.

2. Rahman, M. S. (2004). Disaster and community: the Bangladesh context. 3. Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief Disaster Management Bureau (1999). Standing orders on disaster. Published by the Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. Articles/ Journals 4. Disaster management for sustainable development: focus on community initiatives. Rural Development Dialogue, 24(1), 64-74. 5 Mazumdar, P. (2004). Disaster management challenges-an approach for Bangladesh (Dissertation Paper, Defense Services Command and Staff College, 2004)

6. UNDP. (2003). Disaster management in Bangladesh. Country Report 2003. 7. Hossain, M. & Deb, U. (2007) Issues for post-SIDR agricultural rehabilitation: insights from farmers consultation. Paper presented at the press briefing of Centre for Policy Dialogue, CPD Dialogue Room, Dhaka. Web Sites 8. Patkus, B. L., & Motylewski, K. (2007). Disaster planning. Retrieved November 10, 2008, from http://www.nedcc.org/resources/leaflets/ 3Emergency_Management/03DisasterPlanning.php

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