AS appeared in the press recently, Bangladesh has sought support from the international community for disaster preparedness and long-term rehabilitation work in the coastal belts following two catastrophic cyclones - Sidr and Aila - just in two years.

More landslides can be expected as climate change exacerbates rainfall intensity - but their impact can be reduced, stresses the UN organization charged with coordinating global disaster risk reduction.

Aug. 30: The state government will bring two toll-free numbers into operation from Monday in order to help individuals seeking drought relief.
The numbers are 1100, which can be dialled from BSNL landlines and 1800425110, which can be reached over the cellphone.

Around 250,000 buildings in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet cities have been bracketed by a recent survey as being vulnerable to earthquake.

"The survey results were absolutely shocking," says ASM Maqsud Kamal, national adviser to Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme for tsunami, cyclone and earthquake.

Despite being one of the most disaster-prone countries, Bangladesh's preparation for earthquake management is "almost zero", a top government official said on Wednesday while announcing a Tk 350 crore preparedness project.

New lakes will be dug and reservoirs built, while old ones will be renovated by the Haryana government to fight drought in the future, the state's Finance Minister has announced.

The BMC launched its website, www.mumbaimonsoon.com, on Friday so that citizens can get better information on rainfall data, high tide dates and timings, waterlogged areas as well as traffic, among other things.

The civic administration has set up automated weather stations at 29 places across the city, through which rainfall data could be received every 15 minutes, officials said.

KENDRAPARA: The Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) installed 21 ham (amateur) radios in ten districts, including six coastal ones, recently. Last year, UNDP provided the ham radios to OSDMA for installation. Due to non-availability of trained ham radio operators the installation of radios was delayed, said Pravat Ranjan Mohapatra, deputy general manager and coordinator of OSDMA.