Farid Hasan Ahmed : Tropical cyclones from the Bay of Bengal accompanied by storm surges are one of the majorhazards in Bangladesh. They occur mainly in April/May and October/November. Cyclones and storm surgesare a continuous threat for the coastal population. Most of these cyclones strike land on the Bangladesh coast or the coast of Myanmar andIndia. In 1970, a super cyclone caused the death of about 500,000 in Bangladesh coast line. On 29 April 1991 a powerful cyclone struck the coastal area of Bangladesh with winds of around 250 km/h. The storm killed at least 138,000 people and leaving as many as 10 million homeless. On November 15, 2007 Sidr, a cyclone, hit the coastal area of the country, affecting approximately 8,5 million women, men and children and killing about 4,000 persons. One and a half million homes were partially or completely destroyed and around 1,2 million livestock were killed and 2,4 million acres of crops were ruined. The overall economic losses amounted 1.7 billion US$. On 25 May, 2009, the cyclonic storm “Aila” hit the south western part (Khulna Division), killing approximately 190 in Bangladesh. Several hundred thousands of homes were washed away when wind-driven tidal surges up to 3 meters destroyed the coastal belt. Cyclone Aila hit 14 districts in the South, affecting a population of around around 3.7 million people. The cultivated land damaged in the area is around 96,617 ha; the loss in the production is of around 482,144 MT that is worth of BDT 6,776 million (around 99 M US$). Over the last three decades particularly under the democratic governments, the country has invested in disaster management and now gained some ability to manage cyclones. However, the people of hazardous coastal areas particularly the poor still live with extreme uncertainties, risk and multifarious vulnerabilities.Considering the history, current capacity, risk and vulnerability of Bangladesh to thecyclones, the following recommendations are placed to relevant organizations/actors /authorities/relevant individuals for appropriate strategies and actions in improving further the emergency and cyclone risk reduction performances. Cyclone Emergency Management:An effective emergency managementencompasses those measures taken before a disaster event which are aimed at minimizing loss of life, interference of critical services, and harm when the disaster occurs. Prior to any cyclone situation, a contingency plan provides the basis for identifying and further developing response capacity. It is important to prepare contingency plan in all the administrative layers of coastal area with the provision of necessary resources and its effective management. Strengthen the emergency medical facilities across the vulnerable locations of the coastal belt to treat fatalities in time is an area of intervention. Management of CycloneRisks: Nobody can prevent cyclones. But, the negative consequences could be reduced. The following points are mentioned below as key areas of interventions for reducing cyclone risk: The respective authorities at different level should strengthened capacity building initiatives of local government and communities at risk. A well organized and coordinated effort is needed to further strengthening local level planning, implementing decision making process and the allocation of resource to local government for cyclone proof programme in the vulnerable location. Proper resources from central government and other sources should be ensured by authorities and policy makers. Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in existing development works and future initiatives of different government ministries/departments and Non-Government organizations (NGOs) of the country is very much important. Concern authorities should develop cyclone data base which is very important to carry out detailed study and planning. The Government authorities and NGOs need to redesign their development programmes with the active participation of the most vulnerable communities to ensure that they maximize cyclone mitigation potential and incorporate traditional community coping practices which are fit technically, environmentally and economically. The current embankments, dams, dikes and other infrastructures have to be critically reviewed. An effective strong green belt should be developed with trees and embankment considering present and future vulnerabilities and risks. Some targeted but tested cyclone risk reduction activities both structural (embankments, polders, river protection, cyclone shelters, housing scheme,roads, water and sanitation facilities) and non-structural (improving awareness & networks, early warning dissemination, coordination mechanism etc.) could be under taken/reinforced in consultation with community at risk and relevant experts/organizations. Private sectorscould be involved in structural measures with appropriate facilitation and accountability mechanism from Government authorities.But limitations such as outfitted difficulties of physical workings and weak management set-up for operation, maintenance and protection, environmental consequences and lack of engagement of people of the interventions needs to be addressed effectively by the authorities. Prompt actions are needed by respective authorities and duty bearers to make new protections and to complete ongoing repairing work of embankments/dykes in vulnerable spots of coastal region in conjunction with community and local governments as soon as possible. Any sorts of irregularities, dilemma might cause further loss of lives, damages of crops and sufferings of the people due to cyclones and tidal surges. Appropriate allocation, rapid flow of fund and effective monitoring and supervision of these kinds of urgent activities should be ensured by authorities responsible at different layers. Role of local governments and communities at the different stages of the work needs to be emphasized, supported and ensured by authorities. Any livelihood initiative in the cyclone areas has to take into consideration cyclone and relevant aspects, so that the initiative does not give in, rather yield some amount of benefit to the target people. Involvement of the community and enlisting their inputs in the any kinds of programme design and relevant issues affecting their lives and livelihood will make the intervention process easier and impact-bearing. Impact minimizing strategies such as the use of cropping patterns which minimize revelation to loss and the setting up of cyclone smart income-generating activities need to be promoted. Crop type and pattern should be selected according to susceptibility of cyclone andsalinity; urgent effort should be given by concern agencies to find new variety of species which have cyclone and salt resistance. It is expected that responsible authorities will perform effectively for managing the cyclone risks in line with the Disaster Management Vision and the Act of the Government of Bangladesh. (Farid Hasan Ahmed. Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Practitioner. A Fellow of EPFL, Switzerland.)
