Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
Disaster has been defined by various individuals and organizations in various ways depending on their nature of understanding and on the ways of focusing the issue. Most important definition of disasters and any occurrence which results in damage economic disruption loss of human life deterioration of health status and health services delivery on a scale sufficient to warrant an extraordinary response from outside the affected community. An event, natural or man-made, sudden or progressive, which impact with such severity that the affected community has to respond by taking exceptional measures.
Natural disaster is a phenomena which can occur in anytime without having any notice in anywhere in the world. When it his in a particular, place, it destroys decades of human effort (infrastructures) investment and human life. In the past twenty years for example earthquakes. floods. tropical cyclones. drought and volcanic eruptions have killed 5 million people. inflicted injury and rendered homeless of 1.5 billion people and also caused more than 200 billion US dollars material damage in 1997 and 1998 alone (world Bank:1999). Natural disasters not only threaten our human efforts but also provide numerous impacts for example, losses from natural disasters reduce the pace of sustained economic development and often lead to a heavy drain on available resource to mitigate the economic losses. This losses are particularly dominant in South East Asian and other third world countries, and suffer most serious consequences due to natural disasters. A report from the Yokohama, Japan, world conference on Natural Disasters. Reduction in 1994 stated that 90 percent of natural disasters and 95 percent of the total disasters related deaths occur in the developing countries. The per capita losses in the gross national products (GNP) are estimated to be twenty times greater than in industrial countries. These losses are growing due to increasing concentration of population and investments in vulnerable locations and inadequate investment in measure to reduce risk UNCRD 1999. Purpose of this session is to provide conceptual ideas about the natural disaster its types and the impacts on the society as whole and simple explanation in terms of measuring the economic cost of disaster. It also assist the participants to have primary knowledge on various natural disasters which will help them to work in the field with concerned agencies.
Impacts of a given disaster is normally assessed not only for measuring the extent of damage but also forsaking future plan and programme to reduce the loss of life and property and to mitigate the sufferings of the people. Impacts of a disaster can be measured in terms of economic point of view on the basis of primary and secondary effect on the affected community. To provide the clear scenario of damage and loss, primary effect may be seen as direct cost and indirect cost by the economists. Direct costs relate to the physical damage to capital assets, including buildings, infrastructure, industrial plants, crops and inventories of finished, intermediate and raw materials destroyed or damaged by the actual impact of a disaster. Indirect costs refer to damage to the flow of goods and services including lower put-put from damaged or destroyed assets and infrastructure. The loss of earnings due to damage to marketing infrastructure such as road and ports and to lower effective demand, job losses and the increased costs associated with the use of more expensive inputs following the destruction of cheaper usual sources of supply.
The also include the costs in terms of both medical expenses and lost productively arising from increased incidence of disease, injury and death. Indirect costs can be difficult to estimate, in part because of their ‘knock-on’ effects. For example, disruption of the provision of basic services, such as telecommunications or water supply, can have far-reaching implications. Gross indirect costs are also in part offset by the positive knock on effect of the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, such as increased activity in the construction industry. The complexity of indirect impacts can create problems of double-counting.
Secondary effects concern both the short and long term impacts of a disaster on overall economic performance, such as deterioration in trade and government budget balances and thus, perhaps, increased indebtedness. They can also include shifts in government monetary and fiscal policy, for example, to contain the effects of increased disaster-induced inflation or to finance additional government expenditure and impacts on the distribution of income and scale and incidence of poverty.
Natural disasters threaten our normal pattern of life, our progress and destroyed our socio-economic development, representing a considerable challenges for the global community. These consequences of disasters have convinced the national government, NGOs and international community, that disaster prevention and mitigation are the essential components of any range of sustainable development projects and politics. Finally, to address the need for capacity building, training and resource mobilization should be strengthened. Unless the natural disaster are considered as an important national issues by both local and intentional level in a co-ordinate way, the hope for mitigation and prevention would remain unstable and fragile. Historical evidences show that the trend of disasters happening in our country is increasing. This phenomenon seriously hampered our development. Bangladesh is committed to face the challenges of this disasters.
The International Day for Disaster Reduction was started in 1989, after a call by the United Nations General Assembly for a day to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction. The day celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face. This year the day focuses on reducing disaster economic losses in relation to global GDP by 2030.
Bangladesh is mostly vulnerable to natural disasters like flood, cyclone, tornado, drought & earthquake. It is recognized that building of greater self-reliance and awareness of the people must be a corner stone of disaster management policies and strategies for the future. Youths being the largest community of society may be extended up to the remotest areas stands with highest possible potentiality to prepare & involve the community in facing the challenges of disasters. Youths believe, ‘Danger or Disaster, we face together’.
