Dr. Shahana Perveen explained Chittagong’s history of natural disasters, and her plan to develop a disaster management core committee.

1. The City

Situated on the Bay of Bengal, drained by a good river (the Karanaphuli) and backed with lush green hills, this large seaport of 4 million people has known a number of natural disasters. One of the most severe was a cyclone and tidal bore in 1991 that destroyed large parts of both the city and its surrounding rural areas, and took the lives of an estimated 3 lacs (300,000) people, as well as many animals. It came suddenly, without warning and left the city administration staggering and helpless. There was serious damage to the seaport, airport and naval areas beside the Bay of Bengal. The whole of the city collapsed for about 7-10 days. The water and electricity supplies as well as other essential services were totally destroyed. Six years later, in 1997 an earthquake registering 6.2 on the Richter Scale hit the city, killing 22 people. Fires in slums and garment factories wiped out many slum dwellings and killed 52 in 2006 and 21 in 2007. Heavy rains hit the city again in June 2007, causing extensive flooding and massive mud slides where slums had been built into the hill sides. This took the lives of 116 people and left hundreds homeless.

Rapid population growth and urbanization in a desperately poor country imply weak development of the physical and governmental infrastructure needed to provide protection.  During the disasters, besides the army, the government and police are able to provide some assistance with boats, trucks and manpower, food and money etc. The primary health care and maternal and child health care systems have improved steadily over the years. Chittagong City Corporation’s MCH services are sufficient, but not to do more than soften the devastation that comes. Each disaster does provide more experience in organizing both the government and private resources for help. One bright spot is the strong indigenous development of Non-Governmental Organizations found throughout Bangladesh. These are increasingly called upon to assist government services in providing relief.

Chittagong’s location on the Bay of Bengal subjects it to frequent and devastating natural disasters. Hurricanes and storms rage in from the sea, exacerbated by tidal bores, which produce flooding and massive landslides on the overbuilt hills. As a relatively poor but bustling port city, Chittagong has grown rapidly from a few hundred thousand to more than four million. This rapid growth has severely taxed the city as its infrastructure and administrative structure have not been able to keep up. One of the things the city lacks is any form of regular crisis management structure that can deal with its natural disasters. This means that each new disaster comes as something of a fresh experience and that the city has no organized capacity to learn from those experiences and to increase its preparedness.

Rescue workers helping flood victims in Chittagong

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2. The Proposed Action Plan

The action plan developed by Dr. Shahana Perveen aims to take a major step forward by developing a disaster management core committee headed by the Mayor. Although her plan focuses on a crisis management organization for Maternal and Child Health care, it is sure to help the city administration to be prepared in a more general way, as well for the disasters that come with some frequency. This will bring together relevant city officials to plan for any disaster. It will also work out ways to create a more acute awareness among the general public about what can be done to reduce the devastation of a natural disaster. Dr. Perveen will begin by obtaining the acceptance and support of the mayor for this plan. Then various meetings of city officials will be called to create the needed organization with designated responsibilities. In addition, meetings will be held with newspaper and TV personnel to make the public aware of the new organization and of the capacities for individuals to assist. Finally, officers from the city’s 41 wards will be brought together to have them plan for ward level community based disaster management committees.

Chittagong Action Plan Time Frame (1): September 2007 – October 2008

Chittagong Action Plan Time Frame (2): November 2008 – October 2009

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