City Desk :
BUET-JIPDUS organized a 2-day symposium titled “International Symposium on Disaster Risk Reduction: Towards a Disaster Resilient Bangladesh through Integrated Cooperation” recently over the online platform Zoom with over 100 participants from home and abroad. As Bangladesh is located close to the junction of threeplates (i.e., the Indian Plate, the Eurasian Plate, and the Burmese Microplate), and with a focus on disaster-mitigation measures, speakers at this symposium stressed the importance of implementing the earthquake early warning (EEW) system in Bangladesh.
The symposium started off by presenting the potential of Japan’s advancement through the nationwide application of the EEW system.Prof. Dr. A.F.M. Saiful Amin presented the possibility of developing an EEW system for Bangladesh, and he described the current capacities of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.
Presenters discussed the fact that, despite the short time interval between receiving a warning and more substantial damage, this system can be a powerful tool in reducing the impact of an earthquake, especially with regard to national lifelines, and thus evading economic losses in many sectors of the country.
Through a collaborative effort between Japan and Bangladesh in developing the EEW system, professionals’ capacity can be built to ensure the safety and sustainability of structures, and this country can learn from the forerunners.
With the onset of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the digitization of the world, the physical spaces containing these digital platforms must have adequate security against disasters like earthquakes, and the sustainability of 4IR can be ensured through the EEW system. Ensuring the safety of our country’s people and its physical infrastructures will uncover new horizons of opportunity tobecome more resilient.
The following interactive sessions covered disaster-resilience initiatives by the power sector, metro rail, RAJUK, and National Resilience Program to ensure Bangladesh’ssteady and sustainable economic development. By showcasing the activities and outputs of TSUIB and SATREPS projects, presenters highlighted the collaborative efforts between Japan and Bangladesh to ensure seismic disaster mitigation.
They also discussed the behaviors of the Padma Bridge Rail Track’s railway embankment, the behaviors of theaters and halls under blast loading, the landslide early warning system, the impact of climate change, legislative matters, and the enforcement steps of BNBC 2020. These discussions provided a holistic picture of the desired and attained disaster-mitigation initiatives of Bangladesh.
Prof. Satya Prasad Majumder, honorable vice-chancellor of BUET, graced the opening ceremony as the chief guest. In his speech, he emphasized the need to nourish cooperation and enhance interactions between national and international stakeholders and academia for the sector of disaster management, especially for EEW generation. The special guest, Prof. Abdul Jabbar Khan, provice-chancellor of BUET, suggested the importance of involving policymakers in certaininitiatives, such as the EEW system, and applauded the initiative.
Academic participants from the national and international arena attended the symposium. In addition,government and nongovernment personnel were present and exchanged ideas during the sessions.
This symposium will be a step forward in materializing the vision of BUET-JIDPUS to (1)act as a national reference center for teaching, learning, research, and awareness development in the field of disaster risk reduction and urban safety assurance, (3) supplement the mission of BUET in order to contribute to the national policymaking in the area,and (4) lead the socioeconomic development of Bangladesh.
