Disaster Risk Communication System in Urban Areas of Bangladesh: Current Practices, Prospects and Comparison with Other Countries

Abstract

Bangladesh is a disaster prone country. Disasters like cyclone, storm surge, flood, drought etc. recurrently occur in this country due to its locational disadvantages and public ignorance regarding impacts of disasters. As a result, this country demands the improvement in both physical and social infrastructure planning sectors. Disaster risk communication plays a vital role in this case. In this paper; the role, present practices and prospects of disaster risk communication system in Bangladesh have been reviewed and comparisons have been carried out with other countries. From the study it has been found that, Bangladesh is comparatively in a weak position in case of pre, during and post disaster risk communication phases; whereas the other countries are so advanced in this regard. Community preparedness program is not undertaken in a proper way and hence, destructive losses and damages are taken place due to disaster in the country. Warning system in Bangladesh, performance of Emergency Operation Center is also not up the mark. Analyzing the findings of the study; some recommendations have been proposed in the context of Bangladesh which may be helpful in improving the disaster risk communication in Bangladesh.