Editorial
Evolving disaster management
It should not be reactive but planned ahead
Effective disaster management has not been one of our strong points. It is disconcerting indeed that in a disaster-prone country we have no legal framework to guide protective, rescue and rehabilitation activities to minimise sufferings of the people. While various forms of calamities strike us the year round, what we do in reality is to react in bafflement and then sit down to form a committee to assess the damages wreaked and lives lost or displaced. We hardly see local level community leaders included in such committees who could come up with worthy suggestions.
It is worth taking note that for the last 37 years, national and international experts have been talking on the subject at numerous seminars and workshops placing before the administration a plethora of recommendations. But no fruitful steps have been taken so far to install a strong management mechanism in the vulnerable areas. We understand the draft disaster management act still awaits green signal from the government. A legal instrument and regulatory framework should be adopted with immediate effect to face the challenges of recurring disasters of various dimensions. At a roundtable titled 'Sustainable disaster risk reduction in Bangladesh: Opportunities and challenges for stakeholders', organised by Nirapad (Network for Information, Response and Preparedness Activities on Disaster), Brac University and Care Bangladesh at Brac Inn, speakers emphasised the need for building multi-stakeholder partnership and strengthening the local government for more effective and sustainable disaster risk reduction programme. It has been rightly pointed out that repeated occurrence of natural disasters hampers the development activities as funds have to be directed for reconstruction and rehabilitation in the wake of any disaster. There is no denying that advance preparation and sustainable planning can help reduce the impact of natural disasters and manmade hazards.
We would like to suggest that all the political parties and NGOs working at the grassroots should assist the government with data and information in formulating an effective and pragmatic disaster management policy. The main focus should be pre-disaster risk reduction instead of post-disaster reaction and recovery activism.
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