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Scientific ways to deal with lightning strikes adopted


Published : 16 Oct 2021 10:19 PM | Updated : 17 Oct 2021 01:44 PM

State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Enamur Rahman said that Bangladesh has adopted scientific ways to deal with lightning strikes keeping pace with the developed world.

He said that the government is planning to launch a project worth Tk 476 crore to save people from lightning strikes, reduce the death toll from this deadly phenomenon to single digits. He made the statement while speaking as the chief guest at a shadow parliament session on programmes undertaken by the government to reduce the risk of disasters, held at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (FDC) in Tejgaon on Saturday.

The shadow parliament session was organized by Debate for Democracy. 

The state minister said, “Under this project, we will utilize the time period of 40 minutes before lightning strikes occur. There are early warning devices for lightning strikes that can detect those 40 minutes ago and identify where they will occur. We will install such devices across the country and send alerts in the form of text messages to the locals.”

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He further said that multipurpose shelters will be set up in lightning-prone areas to avoid fatalities. 

The authorities will give priority, the state minister said, adding that his ministry will start working on a system so that locals could receive alerts via text messages.

The function was presided over by Debate for Democracy Chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron.

He said that although Bangladesh has been acclaimed as a role model in the world in disaster risk reduction, many people in our coastal areas are still living in disaster risk.

“Many people have been displaced due to the disaster and are flocking to the city. At the same time, we have many limitations in dealing with urban disasters. The death of two people who fell into a drain in Chattogram a few days ago has created fear among the city dwellers,” he added.

He made a 10-point recommendation on behalf of Debate for Democracy to reduce the risk of disasters.

Debaters from Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT) as the government team and BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology as the opposition party participated in the competition titled “Sufficient measures taken by government to reduce disaster risk”.

Trophies and certificates were distributed among the participating teams at the end of the competition.

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