Disaster management: Javed Khan meets B’deshi counterpart

As a part of technology sharing programme on disaster management, the state Disaster Management minister Javed Khan held a meeting with his counterpart in Bangladesh Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury in Nabanna on Tuesday afternoon.

A delegation from Bangladesh led by Chowdhury attended the meeting. 

Khan said after the meeting that they have discussed various issues related to disaster management.

When asked about the meeting, Chowdhury said Bangladesh and Bengal face quite similar type of climatic hazards. Thus the pattern of fighting against such odd situations to rescue as many people as possible also could be same. “Thus we have shared how the steps taken up by the Bangladesh government for a better forecast helped in reducing loss due to any natural calamity,” he said.

Recollecting the death of a large number of people in Bangladesh due to a cyclone in 1970, Chowdhury said that there was no proper mechanism for forecast. 

But the situation has changed and at present, the forecast can be given before 5 days of a cyclone or any such natural calamity.

Moreover, they have trained 55,000 volunteers who get involved in rescue work without taking any money.

He also said that strict steps have been taken against fishermen to ensure increase in production of hilsa. 

He said 6,000 fishermen were arrested for catching hilsa fingerlings using “current net” and around lakh of metres of such net was set on fire.

When asked about the poor supply of hilsa to Kolkata from Bangladesh, he said that he would let the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina know about the issue.