Landslides in Chittagong.

Chittagong, the economical capital of Bangladesh is situated in the south eastern part of the country having a total population of over 6.5 million. It is a city furnished with enormous natural beauty and peaceful environment. But with beauty comes the price. The city is known for its vast beautiful hilly areas.

Hilly terrain stretches throughout the entire district and eventually into India. The bedrock and soil structure of the hills of Chittagong are not stable, for which reason these areas are highly prone to landslide.

In almost every year a lot of people suffer because of landsliding . Landslide caused death to more than 300 peoples in Bangladesh since 2000, with a loss of hundred of houses and millions of dollars of properties. One single event, the landslide of 11 June 2007 caused death to 135 people, affecting 1.5 million people of the region. In previous years Chittagong faced some serious landslides.

A landslide occurs when part of a natural slope is unable to support its own weight. Slope instability is one of the most common reason of landsliding. There are other facts for Chittagong like deforestation, heavy rainfall, unplanned construction etc.

Natural disasters are usually undeniable. But of course we can reduce the possible damage by creating awareness among people. Faith based organizations and schools can provide much help in this case.

Education institutes can prepare a cautious manner which each and every person related to the institute have to follow. They can create a safety plan which tells the students, employee, teachers, committee what to do during the disaster.

However , in order to create awareness these institutions can take some definite steps:

They can train teachers on how to develop evacuation plan, emergency response capacity, first aid, fire safety, search and rescue, disaster management plan for school to ensure the sustainability of the school safety plan.

As deforestation being a reason of landsliding , institutions can arrange tree plantation programmes to encourage the community for palnting more and more tree.

They can organize Watch Groups and Rescue Teams within the community .

Doing imaginary games or exercise that help students to think logically through imagining and discussing options.

Making list of emergency contacts can also be useful.

Arranging emergency fire drill ,evacuation task and fire safety task can create consciousness among the community.

We interviewed a student about her institution's preparedness for natural disaster. During the interview the interviewee said, "At my institution we have attend seminar on disaster awareness. We also experienced the fire drill, so now we know what we need to do during emergency. We were introduced to every emergency exit and given instruction on the usage of emergency rescue tools."



Not only educational institutions but also faith based organizations such as mosques, temples and churches can create preparedness among people. Faith based or religious organizations can create awareness because people follow them. Before landslides the religious leaders can go to people and talk to them about what should they do. Sometimes people would even agree on leaving their home which is in endangered area only by listening to the advice of their religious leader. After landslides they can engage volunteers and use their institution as shelter homes.

Faith based organizations can influence peoples' awareness through religious lectures and through sharing the preparedness mentioned in holy books.

Preparedness is a must to avoid the havoc of disasters. Awareness can be raised among people in many ways. However , educational and faith based organizations have always been the most effective medium in this purpose.