AP-PLAT capacity development programme: Field Consultations with Local level disaster management bodies in Sirajganj District, Bangladesh
| Date | 2-3 December, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Sirajgonj District Commissioner Office/Baradhul Union/Belkuchi Upazila |
| Language | Bengali and English |
| Topic | Local level disaster management practices |
| Organizer |
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| Supported by | Ministry of Environment of Japan |
As part of the AP-PLAT capacity-building program to Bangladesh, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) conducted a survey and held consultations with local disaster management bodies in Sirajganj District. The objective of the survey was to understand the effectiveness of the current early warning systems in Bangladesh and identify the necessary interventions to improve early warning systems, focusing on enhancing preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. To achieve this objective, the working team organized meetings with the District Disaster Management Committee, Upazila Disaster Management Committee, and Union Disaster Management Committee. The discussions focused on various aspects, including the types of major disasters, the extent of damages, the existing flood forecasting and warning systems, and the methods used to disseminate early warning information. Additionally, the team examined the role of community information dissemination and preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. They also reviewed the activities of local volunteer groups and gathered input on expectations for enhancing the early warning system.
Key findings
- Flood is the most frequent and devastating disaster in Sirajganj District, posing a significant threat to the sustainable livelihoods of the population, especially those living in the Char land areas.
- Agriculture, fisheries, and residential areas suffer significant damage during major floods.
- Flood forecast generation – current practices: Flood forecast is currently generated based on river water level data (collected from manual gauges), which cannot provide information on spatial inundation and depth.
- Flood early warning dissemination – current practices: The forecast-based warning is general in nature, not localized, and is aired on mainstream national radio and TV stations. That’s why the warning messages may not reach the grassroots stakeholders- the communities, the farmers. Particularly, the char land inhabitants more vulnerable to flood but hardly get early warning messages. As a result, the forecast and its warning aren’t effective for evacuation decision and agricultural preparedness and planning.
- Institutional performance: At the district level, the Sirajganj District Disaster Management Committee formulated a district disaster management plan in 2014. The document is available online. However, there have been no significant follow-up actions on it, and the local people are unaware of it. At the upazila level, Belkuchi Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) created a WhatsApp group and shared disaster information (particularly river water level data) with Upazila Disaster Management Committee members and others as required. At the union level, some paid volunteers are supported by some projects to disseminate forecasting and warning messages. However, the volunteers are not that much active once the project period terminates. The committee has no practice in the development of disaster management action plans. In many cases, union committee members are not aware of their responsibilities.
- Local needs and expected interventions:
- Technical: Flood-vulnerable communities expect localized flood forecasting and warning in order to take flood management actions timely at community and level as well as individual family level. The forecast should be able to provide an inundation map (information on the exact extent of the potential flood) with location-specific water depths.
- Dissemination: The early warning messages should be communicative and reach the farmers and the hard-core poor- the ultimate grassroots stakeholders. Approximately 7-10 days’ lead time would help communities to take effective actions to mitigate effect of floods. Information technology can be utilized to make early warning more communicative and reachable to all sections of people. For example, a location-specific auto voice message service for local people by phone companies is a expectation of the communities. Digital information board (KIOSK data board) in the local public places like the Upazila council complex, union council compound, and the road intersections and roundabouts can sufficiently educate and make the local people aware of flood forecasting & warning.
- Institutional capacity building: The capacity of the district, upazila, and union disaster committee members needs to be significantly built so that they are always aware and active. Local administrations, public institutions (educational & others), social institutions (clubs, community halls), and religious institutions (mosques, temples & others) need to be prepared for early warning dissemination and emergency responses. Sometimes, they engage religious institutions and their leaders to disseminate warning messages and find them helpful.
Way forward
- A robust local level early warning system need to be established that include spatial inundation information, make use of advance technological options for dissemination together with strengthening current dissemination practices, establish community led disaster management planning including youth engagement, capacity development for the local level disaster management committees.
- A co-development platform needs to be established in order to blend technical knowledge, voice from the field, local experiences in order to develop a local level disaster management framework. A co-deployment workshop has been scheduled on 24-25 February, 2025 in Dhaka.
(Posted : 13/Feb/2025)
