National awareness campaign on earthquake launched

An awareness campaign on earthquake started in the country today to alert the people about this natural calamity.

Secretary of Disaster Management and Relief Ministry M Shah Kamal inaugurated the "National Earthquake Preparedness Public Awareness Campaign" at Krishibid Institute in the city, said an official release.

The programme was launched in response to a numerous recent studies that given evidence of Bangladesh as a high-risk earthquake prone zone.

Under the programme, awareness activities will begin tomorrow in 20 spots in the city and the districts prone to earthquake.

Addressing the function Shah Kamal said, "Now our main responsibility is to raise public awareness and inform the society about the risks of major earthquake focusing on the communities and households level."

Additional Secretary of MoDMR Satyabrata Saha, Director General of Department of Disaster Management (DDM) Riaz Ahmed and Country Director of UNDP in Bangladesh Sudipto Mukerjee addressed the ceremony, among others. However, The UNDP has planned to assist the MoDMR to develop an integrated and standardized communication strategy with Bitopi Leo Burnett as the creative partner for the campaign, the release added.

Aiming at raising awareness among the students, road shows at various schools and colleges of Dhaka, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Comilla, Noakhali and Chittagong will be held with a branded caravan from January 19, 2017, it said.

Moreover, the campaign also includes mass media (TVC), IPC materials (Animation for school students, Booklets, Audio-visual material, poster), digital media (website) and policy dialogue to disseminate information to the mass people.

Booklets and posters have already been designed and produced for schools, factories, homes, offices, religious places and markets and shopping malls.

All these materials will be available on www.earthquakeready.info, the release added.

Source: BSS