State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr. plans to demolish all the dilapidated buildings and build earthquake-resistant buildings in the country. Md. Enamur Rahman.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .He made the remarks while participating in a dialogue titled “How Ready We Are in Disaster Management” organized by the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF) at the Secretariat on Wednesday (May 11).
The state minister said, “I will demolish all the dilapidated buildings.” These will be rebuilt in an earthquake-resistant design with the help of Japan. The design is done in such a way that the buildings have 7.5 magnitude earthquake tolerance. We will test some of the buildings already built, if there are any weaknesses, they will be strengthened. The new buildings that are being constructed now have to comply with BNBC (Bangladesh National Building Code).
He added that in this case, the buildings declared as heritage by the Department of Archeology were not included in the list. The ones that are heritage are in specific work. The ones we’re talking about are residential buildings. Where people live.
At the same time, steps have been taken to set up shelters and lightning arresters to reduce the death toll in lightning strikes, said the state minister for disaster relief.
“Until last year, we could not play any role in reducing the death toll from lightning,” he said. I have now taken the initiative and decided to launch an awareness campaign and an early warning system to reduce lightning deaths.
The state minister also said that if the system is launched, it will be able to warn about lightning in the mobile app 40 minutes in advance. A small Lightning Center and Lightning Arrester will be set up for those who will be in the open. Once the DPP (Development Project Proposal) is approved, their installation will begin. Experimentally, 40 Lightning Centers and Lightning Arresters have been set up.
The dialogue was presided over by BSRF General Secretary Masudul Haque and chaired by Tapan Biswas.