Introduction

With a population of about 152 million, Bangladesh has been identified as the highest ranking
disaster prone countries and the fifth ranking in the risk index (2012) in the world. An estimate
indicates that fourteen percent of the country's GDP is exposed to disasters per year. Although
over the last four years the GDP growth (6.12 percent) and per capita income (USD 1312) have
shown an upward mobility, high level of poverty (24.7 percent in 2015) remains a major
concern. The underlying causes of persistent poverty in Bangladesh are of many folds, resulting
from geo-physical settings within South Asia combines with social, economic and political
factors. People living in the fragile geophysical location have to face frequent disasters. These
people hardly have alternative options to come out of the vicious cycle of poverty and are forced
to live in precarious conditions either in their original locations or moving elsewhere.
Floods are the most frequent disasters in Bangladesh, causing immense suffering to a large
number of people, damaging infrastructure and other resources. Roughly one-third of the country
become severely affected by floods while the catastrophic floods of 1988, 1998, 2004, and 2007
caused inundation of more than 60 percent of the country's land. The four types of flooding in
Bangladesh include flash floods caused by overflowing of hilly rivers of eastern and northern
Bangladesh; rain floods caused by drainage congestion and heavy rain falls; river floods during
monsoon season; and coastal floods caused by storm surges. Severe floods in Bangladesh have
inundated areas, increased river erosion, breached embankments, and damaged standing crops
and infrastructures.
Cyclone in this land is as old as its history, which has been mentioned by the eminent historian
Abul Fazal in his Ain-E-Akbari in the 16th century. For ages, cyclones have remained as the
deadliest and most hazardous disaster for human populations, other species and resources.
Cyclones increase vulnerabilities of affected communities as recurring events, lingering in post
disaster phases and associated with complex recovery. The deadliest cyclones in Bangladesh
occurred in 1991. Two more severe cyclones Sidr (2007) and Aila (2009) affected the coastal
belt of the country.
Slow onset disasters such as drought (already affected about 8.3 million hectare of land) and
salinity intrusion (in 2007 intrusion spreading from 1.5 to 2.5 Mha) and climate change-related
hazards, earthquakes, arsenic contamination in groundwater, fire incidence, infrastructure

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collapse and lately lightening have been putting people at multidimensional risks. Projected
displacement would be 6-8 m by 2050. Bangladesh ranking, based on the number of people to be
exposed to disaster risk, has been calculated as: first out of 162 countries due to flood; third out
of 73 countries due to tsunami; and sixth out of 89 countries due to cyclones.

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation

The management is comprised of four interdependent risk-based functions:

Prevention/mitigation

Preparedness

Response and

Recovery

Disaster Prevention
Disaster Prevention can be defined as the measures taken to detect, contain, and forestall events
or circumstances which, if left unchecked, could result in a disaster. Disaster prevention refers to
measures taken to eliminate the root-causes that make people vulnerable to disaster. Prevention
can be defined as those activities taken to prevent a natural phenomenon or potential hazard from
having harmful effects on either people or economic assets. Delayed actions drain the economy
and the resources for emergency response within a region. For developing countries, prevention
is perhaps the most critical components in managing disasters, however, it is clearly one of the
most difficult to promote.
Prevention planning is based on two issues:
1. Hazard identification: Identifying the actual threats facing a community and
2. Vulnerability assessment: Evaluating the risk and capacity of a community to handle the
consequences of the disaster.

Disaster Mitigation
Disaster mitigation measures are those that eliminate or reduce the impacts and risks of hazards
through proactive measures taken before an emergency or disaster occurs. Disaster Mitigation
may be define as measures aimed at reducing the impact of a natural or man-made disaster on a

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nation or community. Mitigation is the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the
impact of disasters. In order for mitigation to be effective we need to take action now—before
the next disaster—to reduce human and financial consequences later

Analyzing risk

Reducing risk

Insuring against risk

Components of Mitigation

Public Information and Warning: In an emergency, the provision of public information
and warnings plays a significant role in making people and communities safer. Timely,
targeted and tailored information and warnings empower people to make informed
decisions, to take protective action, and to reduce the potential impacts and consequences
of a hazard.

Long-term Vulnerability Reduction: In order to make disaster management system
operative in an effective and efficient manner we have taken a lot of initiatives and we
achieved significant success. The progress achieved can be of two categories mainly – the
institutional framework and the legal and policy framework. Among the public sector
institutions, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, established in 1972, is the
apex body, which currently focuses on the complete disaster management concept, and
has taken shape as a separate ministry. The new concept is reflected in the allocation of
business prioritizing risk reduction as the centre of all activities.

Operational Coordination: Developing coordination between stakeholders in the
management of natural disasters is very much important. It includes establishing the
involvement of stakeholders and the roles of each party to improve the effectiveness and
efficiency of the management of natural disasters.

Planning: Emergency planning can be defined as the process of preparing systematically
for future contingencies, including major incidents and disasters. The plan is usually a
document, shared between participants and stakeholders that specifies tasks and
responsibilities adopted in the multi-agency response to the emergency. It is a blueprint
for managing events and, as such, should be responsive to management needs. It should

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 specify the lineaments of action, collaboration, command, and communication during a
civil contingency such as a disaster or major event; in other words, it is the framework for
emergency response.

Threats and Hazards Identification: Based on a combination of experience,
forecasting, subject matter expertise, and other available resources, identify a list of the
threats and hazards of primary concern to the community

Risk and Disaster Resilience Assessment: UNDP defines risk as the probability of
harmful consequences casualties, damaged property, lost livelihoods, disrupted economic
activity, and damage to the environment resulting from interactions between natural or
human-induced hazards and vulnerable conditions. Risk assessment is a process to
determine the nature and extent of such risk, by analyzing hazards and evaluating existing
conditions of vulnerability that together could potentially harm exposed people, property,
services, livelihoods and the environment on which they depend. A comprehensive risk
assessment not only evaluates the magnitude and likelihood of potential losses but also
provides full understanding of the causes and impact of those losses. Risk assessment,
therefore, is an integral part of decision and policy-making processes and requires close
collaboration among various parts of society.

Community Resilience: Disaster resilience is the ability of individuals,communities,
organizations and states to adapt to and recover from hazards, shocks or stresses without
compromising long-term prospects for development.

Guiding Principles of Mitigation

Following principles are widely recognized a valuable guide to disaster mitigation:

1. Initiation
i. Disasters offer unique opportunities to introduce mitigation measures.
ii. Mitigation can be introduced within the three diverse contexts of –
a. Reconstruction
b. New investment and
c. Existing environment

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 2. Management
i. Mitigation measures are complex, interdependent and involve widespread responsibility
and needs effective leadership and co-ordination.
ii. Mitigation will be most effective if integrated actions.
iii. Pro-Active mitigation measures are more effective.
iv. Mitigation must not be isolated from related elements of disaster planning. Elements of
disaster planning are preparedness, relief/response and reconstruction/recovery.
3. Prioritization
i. Where resources are limited, priority should be given to the protection of key social
groups, critical services and vital economic sectors.
4. Monitoring and Evaluation
i. Mitigation measures need to be continually monitored and evaluated so as to respond to
changing patterns of hazards, vulnerability and resources.
5. Institutionalization
i. Mitigation measures should be sustainable so as to resist public apathy during the long
periods between major disasters.
ii. Political commitment is vital to the initiation and maintenance of mitigation.

The examples of investment in disaster mitigation in Bangladesh are:

Coastal Embankment Improvement Projects

Jamuna Meghna River Bank Erosion Project

Meghna Dhanogoda Flood Protection, Drainage and Irrigation Project

River Bank Improvement program

Construction of Cyclone centers in the coastal areas of Bangladesh

Community based Disaster Management Program

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Coastal Embankment Improvement Projects

The coastal zone of Bangladesh spans over 710 km of coastline and is prone to multiple threats.
Sixty-two percent of the coastal land has an elevation of up to 3 meters and eighty-three percent
up to 5 meters above mean sea level. The flow of the rivers entering the GBM delta is the third
largest in the world and river floods occur regularly, often leading to flooding of one thirds of the
country. In 1998, the flooded area covered as much as two thirds of the country. With a sediment
supply of 1 billion tons per year, this is the delta with the largest sediment supply in the world.
This leads to accretion of the land area in the coastal zone (5-10 km2 /year, mainly in the Meghna
Estuary) and to highly unstable river branches and estuaries. The large amounts of sediments
also lead to natural subsidence of the soil. This subsidence is increased at several places by
anthropogenic factors like drainage and ground water extraction. On top of that there are tectonic
movements in the deep subsoil, caused by horizontal plate movements. The coastal zone
constitutes 32 percent of the land area and hosts nearly 28 percent of the population (i.e., nearly
42 million). The coastal population is projected to grow to 61 million by 2050. Coastal districts
are characterized by a high pace of population growth. This trend continues to push millions of
people to live in the low lying coastal areas which are highly vulnerable to natural hazards. The
vulnerability of the coastal population is on the rise due to climate change. Climate variability
and change will accentuate the intrinsic risks facing coastal Bangladesh. These risks span: (i)
cyclones and storm surges (ii) river bank erosion and vulnerability of islands and chars, (iii) sea
level rise, (iv) saline intrusion, and (v) coastal erosion. Much is still to be understood of this
dynamic delta.

The objectives of the Coastal Embankment Improvement Project:

i. Increase the area protected in selected polders from tidal flooding and frequent storm
surges, which are expected to worsen due to climate change.
ii. Improve agricultural production by reducing saline water intrusion in selected polders;
and
iii. Improve the Government of Bangladesh’s capacity to respond promptly and effectively
to an eligible crisis or emergency.

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Primarily, the coastal embankment system brought benefits to the people living along low lying
areas. The system was designed originally to protect against the highest tides, without much
attention to storm surges. Recent cyclones brought substantial damage to the embankments and
further threatened the integrity of the coastal polders. In addition to breaching of the
embankment due to cyclones, siltation of peripheral rivers surrounding the embankment caused
the coastal polders to suffer from water logging, which lead to large scale environmental, social
and economic degradation. Poor maintenance and inadequate management of the polders have
also contributed to internal drainage congestion and heavy external siltation. As a result, in some
areas soil fertility and good agriculture production are declining because of water logging and
salinity increase inside polders.

Jamuna Meghna River Bank Erosion Project

This project aimed to provide flood protection for two irrigation schemes Pabna Irrigation and
Rural Development Project and Meghna–Dhonagoda Irrigation Project. irrigation command
areas of 18,680 ha in Pabna Irrigation & Rural Development Project and 13,360 ha in The
Meghna-Dhonagoda Irrigation Project.
The objective of the Project
To sustain and enhance the incomes and poverty reduction in Pabna Irrigation and Rural
Development Project (PIRDP) and Meghna-Dhonagoda Irrigation Project (MDIP) areas through
reliable, cost-effective and sustainable riverbank erosion mitigation measures comprising
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adaptive riverbank protection works and a range of non-structural instruments to adapt to the
morphological processes of the Jamuna and the Meghna rivers.
The Project scope comprises three parts-

Part A: adaptive riverbank protection works;

Part B: non-structural mitigation and social development to erosion-displaced poor; and

Part C: capacity development.

Pabna Irrigation and Rural Development Project

The Pabna Irrigation and Rural Development Project is a FCDI project of the Bangladesh Water
Development Board. The major components of the project are flood embankments, pump-
houses, irrigation and drainage canals and water control structures. The implementation of the
project started in 1970-71 and completed in 1992 under ADB financing amounting to US$ 116
million. The project was taken up to mitigate flood damage through provision of physical
facilities along with stable supply of irrigation water and its efficient management. The project
was given due priority by GOB in view of its potential contribution to increase food grain
production and the resultant higher income, output and employment opportunities.
The project facilities were

160 km of flood embankment

209 km of irrigation canals

145 km of drainage channels

2 Pump Stations and 420 hydraulic structures

Drawbacks of the project:

This project cannot be described as a successful project as, it has failed to achieve all target
regarding command area, agricultural production and irrigation service charge collection. The
total target of irrigating 18870 ha of command area has never been achieved. Maximum area
covered in the year of 2004-2005, which was 47.75%. The performance in terms of irrigation
service charge was very poor. Only 25% of total targeted service charge was collected during the
year.

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Meghna-Dhanogoda Flood Protection, Drainage and Irrigation Project

The Meghna-Dhonagoda Embankment (MDE) is an example of a flood control scheme which

also regulates irrigation and drainage of the area inside it. This intervention in the natural
functioning of the environment -intended to reduce the often catastrophic impacts of flooding on
mankind - itself may have substantial impacts on the environment and humans in the short and
long run. These impacts are not well understood and thus are not fully taken into consideration at
the time of inception of the project.
The most beneficial impacts correlated with the embankment are a higher level of agricultural
yields and economic prosperity among the households inside relative to the households outside.
On the other hand, fish catch and intake of fruits and vegetables are both found to be lower
inside the embankment.
The River Bank Improvement Program (RBIP or the Program) is a proposed three phased
project, by the Government of Bangladesh (GoB), for reconstruction of Brahmaputra Right
Embankment (BRE) to protect about 4.8 million people living on 275,000 ha of floodplains in
the north western region of Bangladesh from inundation resulting from extreme flood events and
protect the river bank from on- going erosion.

Drawbacks of the project:

A number of factors emerge that signal potential problems associated with the embankment.
Some of these may not be due directly to the embankment, but could be connected with practices
that the embankment makes possible, like growing HYV rice. The use of HYV rice certainly
tends to significantly increase harvests, but the practice of monoculture, which is usually an
outcome of this form of cultivation, can have negative impacts on the environment as well as on
human health. One manifestation of this is a decline in the availability of other important
foodstuffs. It appears that a number of items of important nutritional value are being given low
priority within the embankment and are being replaced by those which contribute towards
increasing earnings, regardless of health implications. Not only did the villagers inside the
embankment suffer a decline of fish in their diets, but they also experienced deficiencies in
nutritional value from lack of fruits and vegetables. Another possible indicator of the impacts of

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a focus in HYV production was the higher prevalence of gol pata use as opposed to jutesticks in
the construction materials used for walls. The question of whether the MDE has had a significant
impact on the environment

River Bank Improvement Program

Location of the project
The Project location covers the Brahmaputra right-bank from Jamuna Bridge to Hasnapara. This
is expected to cover approximately 60-70 km that is exposed to high erosion rates (i.e. priority
reach). Follow-on phases of the program are expected to cover the entire Brahmaputra right
embankment up to Dudkumar River in Kurigram district. The project's physical works will
include river bank protection on portions of the western (right) bank, embankment upgrading,
reconstruction and realignment, and drainage improvement works. The proposed civil works will
require land acquisition and relocation of many people (i.e. an average of 70 households per km

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of the priority reach with average family size of four per household). Nearly two-thirds of those
affected live on embankments
Project Objectives
The objective of this program is to reduce the adverse impacts of flooding and erosion along the
Brahmaputra right embankment, enhance its sustainable management and improve accessibility
along the BRE corridor. The project specific PDO is to improve flood and erosion management
capacity, and increase protection against river flooding and erosion along selected sections of the
Brahmaputra River.
Project Description
The proposed project consists of the following components:
Component A: Rehabilitation and Improvement of Brahmaputra River Embankment Scheme.
This component would primarily consist of the civil works required for rehabilitation of
embankment schemes and associated river bank protection works.
i. Component A1: Flood Embankment Rehabilitation and Improvement. This component
aims to increase community resilience to flooding. It will finance systematic
strengthening of the existing degraded embankments and repairing and upgrading the
associated drainage for improved flood management of project area. It is expected
that 60-70km of embankment will be rehabilitated under this component.
ii. Component A2: River Bank Protection and Revetment. This component aims to increase
community resilience to bank erosion and to provide increased protection against
river attacks and embankment breaches. It is expected that 60-70 km of riverbank
protection will be strengthened to cover priority areas that endanger the stability of
the embankment.
Component B: Implementation of Social and Environmental Management Plans. This
component will implement the planned social and environmental programs to address the
negative social environmental issues under the project, including resettlement, and provide
development assistance to local communities in the project area.
i. Component B1: Resettlement and Social Development. The aim of the Social and
Resettlement Management Plan (SRMP) is to mitigate the adverse impacts of the
project, improve the living standard of those affected and provide assistance to

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 promote local area development along the embankments, by addressing the social
dimensions of the project, and finance implementation of such plans. The proposed
civil works will require land acquisition (i.e., approximately 330 ha) and relocation of
many people (i.e. in average 70 households per km of the priority reach with average
family size is of four per household, a total of some 20,000 people). The SRMP plans:
(i) compensation for lost assets, resettlement and livelihood restoration for the
population affected by the project; (ii) gender and public health action plans; iii) a
communication strategy, grievance mechanism and a plan for ongoing stakeholder
engagement; and iv) local development assistance to communities along the
embankment.
ii. Component B2: Environmental Management. This will also support the development of
EIAs for all remaining embankment and river bank protection works and road
development to be carried out in subsequent phases of the proposed program.

Component C: Institutional Strengthening, Capacity Building of BWDB, Technical Assistance

and Training and Future Project Preparation and Strategic Studies. This includes:
i. Component C1: Strengthening of BWDB, Independent Panel of Experts and Technical
Assistance. It will also strengthen BWDB capacity to carry out effective operation
and maintenance (O&M) programs of the embankment scheme and the associated
river bank revetment and road. This will also support the development of
embankment asset management system and improve the flood early warning systems.
ii. Component C2: Future Project Preparation and Strategic Studies. For examples, this
subcomponent would finance: (i) strategic studies including the continuous updating
of the strategic assessment /master plan to look into river training, flood control
schemes, and river navigation and other preparatory studies for following phases of
the RBIP; (ii) a feasibility study to assess different toll options; and (iii) establish
framework of collaboration among allied institutions to improve integration of
structural and nonstructural measures in flood and erosion management and overall
water resources planning.

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Component D: Project Management Support, Construction Supervision, Monitoring and
Evaluation of the Project Impacts and Social and Environmental Management Plan. This
includes:
i. Component D1: Construction Supervision and Implementation Support. This includes: (i)
surveys, designs of remaining embankment improvement and (ii) construction
supervision of civil works.
ii. Component D2: Third Party Monitoring and Evaluation of Project, and Supervision of
GAPP, EMP, SRAP. This sub-component aims at ensuring effective Project
monitoring and evaluation.
iii. Component D3: Project Management Support and Audit. This sub-component would
support BWDB in implementing Project-related activities, including support for
operation of the project.

Construction of Cyclone Shelters in the coastal areas of Bangladesh

The island inhabitants in Bangladesh suffer most by cyclone in terms of human, livestock and
property loss than the mainland dwellers. Cyclone shelters help to reduce the losses greatly. The
coastal areas and off-shore islands of Bangladesh are low lying and flat. The height above mean
sea level of the coastal zone is less than 3 m. The coastal regions are subjected to damaging
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cyclones almost every year. The cyclone Sidr of 2007, Nurgis of 2008, Aila of 2009 and Laila of
2010 were the annual extreme events among a number of other hazards occurred in Bangladesh.
The housing sector, productive sectors and public infra-structures were affected due to the Sidr.
Total damages and loss caused by the Sidr were estimated to be BDT 115.6 billion (US$ 1.7
billion). These early estimates suggest that the reconstruction costs of the lost and damaged
infrastructures are likely to be considerable. The Government of Bangladesh is preparing the
Multipurpose Disaster Shelter Project (MDSP) to reduce the vulnerability of the population in
cyclone prone areas of Bangladesh covering 9 coastal districts including Sidr hit Bhola, Barisal,
Pirojpur and Patuakhali, and five other coastal districts including Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Feni,
Laksmipur and Noakhali. There are 2133 cyclone shelters along the coastal regions of
Bangladesh. Emphasize has given on building multipurpose cyclone shelters with time.
The project aims to (a) reduce the loss of life of human and livestock during natural disasters;
and (b) increasing the population covered by accessible multi-purpose shelters. These objectives
will be achieved by improving existing multi-purpose shelters, constructing new shelters, and
improving access roads to the shelters and connectivity in the area.

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Recommendation

A clear and comprehensive national disaster policy

Adequate assessment and monitoring of disaster hazards and vulnerabilities.

Adequate and accurate analysis of all reasonable mitigation projects.

Appropriate consideration of mitigation measures in National Development Plans.

Adequate public awareness and education programs.

Conclusion
Mitigation is one of the important tools of disaster management. So by following guiding
principles properly, addressing problem areas and ensuring actual resources and others
requirements it can be made more fruitful. However, action needs to be taken to increase
community level support for disaster risk reduction in order to achieve long-term sustainability
for the program.

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References

1. Shelters and Schools Adapting to Cyclonic Storm Surges: Bangladesh

AtiqRahman(Bangladesh Centre of Advanced Studies, Dhaka) Rafiq Islam(Manly
Council, Australia
2. Two studies on the Impact of Meghna-Dhonagoda Flood Control, Drainage and Irrigation
project
3. An impact evaluation of the Meghna-Dhonagoda Embankment
4. An impact on environmental changes and people’s perception of the Meghna-
Dhonagoda Embankment
5. Working Paper Number: 19 ,BRAC-ICDDR, B Joint Research Project Dhaka, Banglades
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Ministry of Water Resources
BANGLADESH WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD Consultancy Services for
“Technical Feasibility Studies and Detailed Design for Coastal Embankment
Improvement Programme (CEIP)” Contract Package No. BWDB/D2.2/S-3 (IDA CR.
No. 4507) COASTAL EMBANKMENT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT, PHASE-I
(CEIP-I)
6. Disaster Prevention & Mitigation ,Panafrican Emergency Training Centre, Addis Ababa,
July 1998

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