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5 years ago

PM stresses awareness campaign over disaster dos and don’ts

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressing the National Disaster Management Council at the Prime Minister’s Office in the capital on Thursday - PID
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressing the National Disaster Management Council at the Prime Minister’s Office in the capital on Thursday - PID

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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday stressed the need for conducting massive awareness campaign among people about their dos and don’ts during any calamity alongside making the disaster preparedness time-befitting one.

“It is urgently needed to create public awareness over their dos and don’ts during any calamity alongside preventing (man-made) disasters,” she said while addressing the National Disaster Management Council held at the Prime Minister’s Office in the city.

The Prime Minister said it will have to make the National Disaster Management Council’s preparedness timely reviewing the preparation time to time.

She directed the authorities concerned to take measures not only to face disaster but also to prevent man-made calamities like fire incident through appropriate plans.

She said a small guideline (related to disaster) will have to be disseminated massively informing  people about their dos and don’ts in case of disaster.

The Prime Minister emphasised conducting the awareness campaign at personal and organisational levels alongside the national level.

 “Well have to review the disaster preparedness regularly and fix up our dos and don’ts,” said the Prime Minister.

Taking about FR Tower fire, she prayed for salvation of the departed souls of the fire victims including the fire fighter.

“It is needed to make people alert so that man-made accidents don’t occur,” she said.

The Prime Minister urged people to be cautious in using modern equipment such as electricity, gas cylinder and flammable substances to minimize the risks of accident.

“Modernisation gives us comfort, but it also creates risk of accidents. We'll have to be careful to keep the risks at the minimum level,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina also asked people to remain careful about their own security and prepared in their offices and houses to face any disasters. 

Noting that Bangladesh is a highly densely populated country with 16 crore people in a 147,570-square kilometer land, she said the country is also disaster-prone due to its geographical location.

Referring to the 1991 cyclone during the BNP-Jamaat regime, she said, “The then government was not aware about the disaster for which tens of thousands of people were killed.”

In this context, she also said her government had successfully tackled the 1997 cyclone and the 1998 flood minimizing the casualties significantly, reports UNB.

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