Hazard & Vulnerability of Dhaka City 5 page Dhaka City Population Area Urbanization River Recent few incidents

ts case study Historical Hazard 5 page Analysis and severity of hazards & vulnerability

Bangladesh is a unitary, independent and sovereign Republic known as the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. Bangladesh emerged as an independent country on March 26, 1971. The war of liberation ended on 16 December 1971 with the victory of Bangladesh forces and the surrender of the occupying Pakistani Army in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. From its beginning as a small city with a few thousand people, Dhaka actually experienced dramatic turns upward and today it has become one of the fastest growing mega cities of the world. Its existence as a major urban agglomeration has been consistent over a period of 400 years. Even the most developed cities in the world today cannot boast 400 years of uninterrupted and organised existence that Dhaka does as a historic city. In the 16th century during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar it was a thana or military outpost having a population of only 3000 people with an area of 2 km (UNEP, 2005). Then turning Dhaka into a capital city of the eastern province in 1608 by Subedar Islam Khan was epoch making. Since then Dhaka has experienced actual urbanisation and trends of development.

Area Dhaka is located in central Bangladesh at 23420N 902230E, on the eastern banks of the Buriganga River. The city lies on the lower reaches of the Ganges Delta and covers a total area of 360 square kilometres (140 sq mi). It consists of eight principal thanas and 16 auxiliary thanas. In total the city has 130 wards and 725 mohallas. Dhaka district has an area of 1463.60 square kilometres (565 sq mi). Climate Tropical vegetation and moist soils characterize the land, which is flat and close to sea level. The city is within the monsoon climate zone, with an annual average temperature of 25 deg C (77 deg F) and monthly means varying between 18 deg C (64 deg F) in January and 29 deg C (84 deg F) in August. Nearly 80% of the annual average rainfall of 1,854 mm (73 in) occurs between May and September. This leaves Dhaka susceptible to flooding during themonsoon seasons owing to heavy rainfall and cyclones. Rivers around Dhaka City
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, rests on the eastern banks of the Buriganga River which flows from the Turag to the south of the district. Main rivers flowing through this smaller district rivers are Padma, Kaliganga, Dhaleshwari, Ichamati, Shitalakshya, Burigangaand numerous

including Bangshi, Turag, Balu, Elamjani, Alam, Bherujkha, Ramkrishnadi, Elisamari, Tulsikhali. Major lakes ("beels") include Belai, Saldaher, Labandaher, Churain, Damsharan and Kiranjir Beel. Annual average temperature of the district is maximum 34.5C, minimum 11.5C; average annual rainfall 1931mm

Population The population of Dhaka (areas under the jurisdiction of the Dhaka city corporation) stands at approximately 7.0 million. The city, in combination with localities forming the wider metropolitan area, is home to an estimated 14.6 million as of 2010. The population is growing by an estimated

4.2% per year, one of the highest rates amongst Asian cities. The continuing growth reflects ongoing migration from rural areas to the Dhaka urban region, which accounted for 60% of the city's growth in the 1960s and 1970s. More recently, the city's population has also grown with the expansion of city boundaries, a process that added more than a million people to the city in the 1980s. According to Far Eastern Economic Review, Dhaka will become a home of 25 million people by the year 2025.

Dhaka in Bangladesh is the most densely populated city in the world with a population density of 46,000 people per square kilometre here, every other inch is another person. Dhakas population of 7 million is equally very high.

Hazards and Vulnerability: Hazard: By definition, hazard is a dangerous condition or event, that threat or have the potential for causing injury to life or damage to property or the environment. Hazards by category can be of two types. Natural hazards Manmade (anthropogenic) hazards

Vulnerability: The extent to which a community, structure, services or geographic area is likely to be damaged or disrupted by the impact of particular hazard, on account of their nature, construction and proximity to hazardous terrains or a disaster prone area. Categories of vulnerbaility Physical Vulnerability Socio-economic Vulnerability

Hazards and Vulnerability of Bangladesh:

Bangladeshs geographical location and land characteristics make it one of most hazard-prone countries in the world. The country has been frequented by a range of natural hazards throughout its history, including cyclones, floods, droughts, tornadoes, landslide and river bank erosion. Other major hazard risks to the country include earthquake, Tsunami, high arsenic contents in ground water, water logging and salinity, etc.

Earthquake

Bangladesh has experienced a number of earthquakes over the past 200 years between 1869 and 1950, 7 earthquakes ranging between 7.0 to 8.7 on the Richter scale have been recorded in the Bangladesh region. The earthquake disaster risk index has placed Dhaka among
the 20 most vulnerable cities in the world. Earthquake Risk in Dhaka Geographically Bangladesh is located close to the boundary of two active Plates: the Indian Plate in the West and Eurasian Plate in the East & North Recently measured- plate motions measured that Dhaka is moving 30.6 mm/year in the direction North-East Micro-seismicity data supports the existence of at least four earthquake source points in and around Dhaka. Density of Building, poor construction, Poor quality utility services, Narrow lanes of densely population of Old Dhaka Soil : Thirty-five per cent of Dhaka, including middle & North part and Old Dhaka, is on red soil and it is less susceptible to an earthquake, whereas the East and West areas, built on landfills and more susceptible to earthquake. Earthquake of December 2001 with magnitude of 4.5 and focal depth of 10 km located very close to Dhaka caused a four-storey building collapse and 100 prisoners injured in the Dhaka central jail. Recent Earthquake: Just recently, on 18 September, 2011, a powerful earthquake measuring 6.8 on

the Richter scale on Sunday jolted Bangladesh, sparking panic among the people, though there was no immediate report of any casualty. The earthquake was a of
magnitude 6.8 M earthquake epicentered within the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, near the Sikkim-Nepal border at 18:45 IST (12:40 UTC) on Sunday, 18 September 2011. The earthquake was felt across northeastern India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Challenges of Earthquake Mitigation In Dhaka Non-engineering, Self-engineering building construction, slum & Old Building Densely build-up area & Unplanned Narrow Lanes Violation of Building Code Loose soil & filled soil Shortage of Evacuation Space Haphazard Unplanned Public utilities Lack of Disaster Management Equipment Lack of Training & Awareness Ignorance of fire fighting Lack of Data & education on earthquake Lack of Community Involvement

Lack of disaster drill Unstable Population Growth Technological disadvantage Not enough storage Humanitarian Aid & relief goods.

1. Floods Floods and prolonged water logging in Dhaka city A flood is a natural disaster caused by too much rain or water in an area, and could be caused by many different conditions. There are two kinds flood occurs in Dhaka city and flash floods are most often caused by prolonged rainfall from a storm. Main cause of this flood is water level rising, i.e. river flooding and another is rainfall flooding due to Heavy rainfall & drainage congestion. Highest hourly recorded rainfall 162 mm and recorded daily rainfall 300 mm. During monsoon every year large portion of Dhaka city inundated due to low topography. Three large rivers of the country have total catchments of 1.7 million km2 lying in Bhutan, China, Nepal outside of Bangladesh. When excessive rainfall occurs in those catchments huge run off generated; the rise of water level synchronize, then floods as of disastrous nature occur. The floods of 1954, 1955, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1987, 1988, 1998 & 2004 are disastrous. In 1998 56% of the city was inundated for about 69 days including most of the eastern part. Additionally, increased amount of the rainfall affects Dhaka is more likely. Because day by day Dhaka is becoming more populated and the excessive population is causing harmful effect to the city sewer system. For this reason even small amount of rainfall is causing water logging and eventually this phenomenon deteriorates public health. Four major floods in last 20 years: in 1988, 1998, 2004 and 2007 Floods of 1998 and 2004 were worst in terms of inundation and duration of floodwater in the city fringe areas Effects of Flood and Water Logging Over 50% city people, most of them were slum dwellers were badly affected People were compelled to stay on roof tops during prolonged floods Communication, livelihood and service facilities were severely affected In 2007, over 90,000 people in Dhaka city were affected by diarrhea in one week during flood People suffered from lack of food, safe drinking water and health problems Elderly people, children and women were extremely vulnerable to flood risks Transportation was baldly affected, people had to swim to collect food and water

Flood and Water Logging: Responses and Preparedness and Mitigation activities

City Corporation operated relief rescue and rehabilitation works Established flood control room and formed management teams Government and NGOs carried out relief distribution and rehabilitations activities City corporation took immediate steps to rehabilitate the damaged road, embankments and other facilities. City Corporation established water pumping station at different strategic points DCC could establish control room with proper communication system through wireleless network The City Disaster Management committee (Headed by Mayor) oversight the disaster responses. DCC worked with DESA, WASA, Fire service, Red Crescent and other sectors during disasters Committee functions during and after the disaster. 2. Fires

Since 1990, over 350 workers have died and some 1500 injured in fire-related incidents in garments factories in Bangladesh. Till 2000, there were more than hundred fires in factories in Bangladesh. More than 5000 workers were injured in these fires and 246 workers were killed. Besides these direct losses due to fire, there results huge intangible loss which remains always unestimated. In recent past, the devastating fire at Nimtoli in Old Dhaka on 3 June, 2010, 117 people died and hundreds were injured. It was like the hell breaking loose, the tragedy was of such magnitude that one has to gasp with horror and agony. Among 200 mark fire station, there are 13 fire stations in Dhaka City, that is, one fire station and about twenty firefighters for about every eight lakh people. We need to develop volunteer fire brigades in our towns and cities. But there is reason to be concerned about fire in Bangladesh today. Fire hazard vulnerability of Dhaka City dwellers has been increased due to reckless building construction and non conformation of Fire Protection Act, 2003. Dhaka City has been experiencing many fire accidents at present due to following reasons:

The possible causes of low incidence of building fires in Bangladesh are (a) use of fire resistant building materials, (b) space manned always means quick detection, (c) less use of electro-mechanical equipment, particularly in buildings with combustible materials (d) open hearth cooking in rural areas, and (e) not all incidents are reported and/or recorded.

In most cases lack of proper precautionary measures along with the institutional inefficiency,
insufficient equipment support

Lack of public awareness and education for combating fire, as most of the dwellers do not
know how to use the fire fighting equipments.

Along with these above reasons, fire hazard has multiplied in this country because of (a)
Taller buildings, (b) Air-conditioned ENCLOSED space, (c) Increased use of electromechanical equipment, (d) Increased use of flammable finish materials, (e) Designers not addressing new hazard dimension. Therefore, institutional reform, strengthening of capacity at individual and institutional level are needed in order to reduce fire hazard risks of Dhaka City. 3. Landslide A landslide occurs when soil, rocks, trees, parts of houses and other debris is swept downhill. Landslides can be cause by earthquakes, rain or general instability of the land. In Bangladesh, mainly mudslides, a special type of landslide, in which heavy rainfall causes loose soil on steep land to collapse and slide down occurs mainly in the south east part of Bangladesh. Mainly, the Chittagong hills are degrading by different anthropogenic stress such as, hill cutting for construction, sand and clay mining purpose, increasing settlement in foothills, deforestation etc. These factors are causing the landslide and landslide vulnerability is increasing day-by-day.

In 2010, June 15, at least 53 people died and several others missing in different landslides in Cox's Bazar and Bandarban districts in Bangladesh due to separate landslides triggered by heavy rains. Again in July 4, 2011 at least 17 people died in adjoining Chittagong district from a rain-triggered landslide. In Dhaka, landslide occurs due to piling collapsed at construction side at Nakhalpara and resulted into the collapse of three one-storey buildings, tilting of two five-storey buildings with cracks and rendering homeless to at least 45 families. 4. Building collapse Constructing buildings without complying with construction regulations or with engineering faults as well as being constructed on a weak ground base or on land developed by filling in water bodies are causing many high rise buildings in Dhaka city tilting. City has observed the situation at the city's Begunbari, the leaning of other buildings at Nakhalpara and the cracks discovered on a high-rise apartment at Shantinagar in the capital. Only the government by enforcing the building code strictly can reduce risk of building collapse and loss of lives and property.

5. Boat / Road / Train accidents / air crash; Rural / Urban fires; Bomb /serial bomb blasts AT least one person gets killed and many more are maimed every day in the capital city in traffic accidents. According to police, 98 percent of the accidents happen due to reckless or careless driving. The main culprits are usually the minibuses, buses and other vehicles of public transport. According to Accident Monitoring Cell of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and Dhaka Metropolitan Police, 377 people died in 620 accidents in Dhaka metropolitan area in 2008. Of them, 283 were pedestrians. Another 79 walkers were seriously injured. According to World Bank research, road accidents in Bangladesh cost the country about Tk 5,000 crore annually, nearly one percent of the GDP. According to a 2008 Accident Research Centre survey of Buet, there are 54 accidentprone spots in Dhaka city. It identified Jatrabari intersection as the most dangerous intersection in the capital. Farmgate, Kakoli, Bijoy Sarani, Shanir Akhra intersection, Shapla Chattar in Motijheel and Purana Paltan intersection are also dangerous places. The number of fatalities is just the tip of the iceberg. In the name of rendering transport services, all modes of public transport of the city are enjoying a free rein where they generally do not abide by the traffic laws and where they just get away with murders, as the law enforcers remain mysteriously silent about them.

Instead of the traffic police, public transport vehicles, often not road-worthy, control the traffic movement pattern in the capital. As such, there is no other way but to driving out battered vehicles along with illegal drivers and removing corrupt elements from the transport authority and traffic police department are a must to ensure safety of the commuters, say experts and researchers.
Environmental pollution

Air Pollution Scenario

Dhaka accounts for 15000 deaths due to air pollution annually. About 6.5 million people of 4 major cities of Bangladesh annually suffer from respiratory infection due to air pollution only. Around 1000 metric tons of pollutants are pumped into the air of Dhaka city alone every day of which 70% emanates from vehicles. Different toxic wastes emitted by an estimated 120000 two stroke three wheelers, faulty vehicles and toxic fumes from over 1500 brick fields around the city is a big threat to the city dwellers life. The density of lead in the air of Dhaka is about 463 nanograms per cubic meter, which is 10 times more than the acceptable standard and several times more than the Mexico City. The World Health Organization estimates that about 700000 deaths annually could be prevented in developing countries if three major atmospheric pollutants-carbon monoxide, suspended particulate matter and lead were brought down to a safer level. Sound Pollution Scenario In a report of the Directorate of Environment that the sound intensity even near hospitals, clinics and educational institutions is between 67.19 decibels and 73.15 decibels, whereas the acceptable limit is 45 decibel. Hydraulic horn is the most dangerous one for sound pollution. Liquid Waste Scenario The existing sewer network of Dhaka WASA covers only 30% of its service area, and there has been no expansion of is network in the last 15 years despite environmental hazards. The existing

sewer lines serves only 20% of the city dwellers and the remaining 80% without sewer facility. About 65000-70000 cubic meters of sewer either flow into the city's water bodies and canals or into the river Buriganaga daily. The network of about 632 kilometres is supposed to carry about 1.2 lakh cubic meters of sewer daily but only 50000-550000 cubic meters flow into the only sewer treatment plant of DWASA sewer treatment plant at Pagla daily. DWASA has now only 48000 sewerage connections although the system was introduced in 1923. The city needs at least 3155 k.m. of sewerage line. Solid Waste Scenario Solid Waste mismanagement has been a great concern for the city dwellers. The city corporation spends 20-40% of their revenues, employing 1-2 workers per 1000 persons on solid waste management. Presently only half of the waste is collected and disposed, the rest are left on the streets or find the way into drains or low lying areas causing serious damages to health and environment. Reported solid waste generation in Dhaka city varies between 3500 tons-5000 tons/day. Out of this 3500 tons 1800 tons are collected and dumped by DCC, 900 tons go to backyard and land fills, 400 tons go to road side and open space, 300 tons are recycled by the rag pickers, and 100 tons are recycled at the generation point. Solid waste could reach 15000 tons a day by the year 2020. Of the estimated daily total disposal of about 2585 m3, about 2305m3 are dumped at the Matuail site, about 273 m3 at Mirpur site, and 7.5 m3 at Lalbag site. Medical Waste Scenario Disposal pattern of medical waste in our hospitals and clinics is seriously alarming. Of the 3500 metric tons of garbage generated per day in Dhaka city nearly 200 metric tons originate from hospitals and clinics. This causes disease either directly or indirectly by contamination of surface water, ground water, solid and air. Medical wastes are of; Infectious wastes, Anatomic wastes, Sharps, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Genotoxic, Vaccine, Radioactive and others with high heavy metal contents. Human Waste Scenario In Bangladesh human waste (excreta) has been identified as the major contributor to environmental pollution due to inadequate sanitation coverage and waste treatment system. The over all sanitation coverage is around 40%, meaning the rest 60% of the 150 million people lack sanitation facilities. This in turn means that the excretes wastes by this huge 90 million people enter the environment in an uncontrolled manner. Thus assuming an average of 1.50 kg of excreta per person per day, it stands that an estimated 135000 tons of humans excreta are exposed to the environment daily. Such a huge quantity of excreta exerts a tremendous demand of about 1850 tones of oxygen per day on the environment. In a survey conducted by the Department of Environment in 1994 revealed that every liter of water lifted from tube wells in Hazaribag area contained 0.2 to 0.4 mg chromium, as against the allowable limit of 0.05 mg/liter. Poly Waste Scenario There are about 300 poly-bag manufacturers in the country producing about 1500 tons of products every day. Poly-bag industries account for 250 industries in Dhaka city alone. About 5

million bags are used daily in Dhaka city alone and another 5 million bags are used in the rest of the country daily making a total of 10 million bags. Poly bag can affect Soil Pollution. Water Pollution and Air Pollution. It also seriously contaminates food when in direct contact and causes dermatitis when in prolonged contact with skin. Another report said there are 800 poly bag manufacturers in the country employing 40000 people producing 129 million bags per day. Of the 5-6 million poly bags used in Dhaka city only 20% is recovered and the remainder left lying around. A newspaper report said there are 1500 plastic products factories of which 400 are poly bag manufacturers and produce about 130 million poly bags a day and about 10 million of those are throne as waster on the street, drains etc. Total investment in the sector is about TK. 2250 million. Banning of Poly bag use is still an eye wash only. Industrial Waste Scenario There are about 6000 big and medium as well as 24000 small industrial plants in the country the industrial dregs of these plants are being deposited into our water bodies, causing serious health hazards. The country has only 4 water treatment plants. There are about 300 types of industries in Dhaka city. From Tejgaon industrial area alone about 12000 cubic meter untreated industrial wastes per day are disposed. Not only Bangladesh lacks adequate and effective waste management facilities, it also lacks policies to guide health services providers and punish the offenders. There is no specific clause pertaining directly to handling, transporting or disposal of medical waste in the environmental protection Act 1995. Medical waste, can however be classified under section 2 (1), which defines waste, "any liquid, solid and radioactive substance that is discharged, disposed or dumped which may cause adverse/negative change to the environment Human Apedemics

Dengue, an infectious tropical viral fever, is increasing alarmingly in Dhaka city with the highest number of 473 cases reported till August 11 this year, according to an expert. The government authorities have, however, emphasised on creating mass awareness about the dengue fever and motivating the city dwellers to take part in the drive to eliminate the breeding grounds of Aedes mosquito around their homes. As the city experience frequent rains, it is one of the causes of increasing dengue cases during July-August. The steady rainfall can help wash out the sources of dengue but the intermediary rains increase the breeding by Aedes mosquitoes. Likewise Swine Flu in 2009 has also affected the citizens of Dhaka.

DHAKA STRUCTURE PLAN (1995-2015)17 As a part of the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan, it provides a long-term strategy for the 20 years for the development of the greater Dhaka sub-zone with a population target of 15 million. The plan consists of a written report and policy documents with support maps of appropriate scale. It identifies the order of magnitude and direction of anticipated urban growth and defines a broad set of policies considered necessary to achieve overall plan objectives. It considers the micro environmental aspects of Dhaka, both in its existing urban form as well as for future development to keep the city free from all sorts of natural and man made hazards. The plan recognizes the positive and sustainable role of green belts, preservation of high quality wet and agricultural lands and existing rivers in and around the city limits and their continuous upgrading and evaluation and thus recommends for building a circular waterways round the city. The plan also earmarks a number of retention ponds around the city limits for retaining rain water as well as for maintains an ecological balance too and a healthy environment. Key Policies of Dhaka Structure Plan (SP) 1995-2015