Mohammad Akhter Hossain:
About 864,619 to 1,391,685 buildings in Dhaka will collapse if a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurs on the Madhupur fault in Tangail, a recent study by Rajuk has found.
Presenting the findings of the study, conducted under Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha’s (Rajuk) Urban Resilience Project, at its premises in Dhaka, Rajuk’s Chief Engineer and Project Director Abdul Latif Helaly said, “There are 2,147,219 buildings in Dhaka under Rajuk area, of which 513,507 are concrete buildings. We surveyed 3,252 buildings.
Out of these, 42 buildings which are at high risk have been suggested to be completely demolished.”
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Helaly continued, “If an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 occurs on the Madhupur fault, 864,619 to 1,391,685 buildings in Dhaka will collapse, which is 40.28% to 64.83% of the total buildings.”
“Besides, if a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurs along the Sylhet lineament, then 40,935 to 314,742 buildings in Dhaka will be damaged. Which is 1.91% to 14.66% of the total number.”
Helaly also warned that 2.1 to 3.1 lakh people will die in Dhaka if an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 occurs on the Madhupur fault during morning hours, 2.7 to 4 lakh if it occurs in the afternoon and 3.2 to 5 lakh if it occurs in the night.
Speaking at the event, Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman said the government is giving utmost importance to sustainable infrastructure and the Rajuk is working on earthquake resilience in the city in coordination with local and foreign experts.
“There has been no major earthquake for 125 years. Experts say a big earthquake could happen soon. So the government is identifying the problems in this regard. This should be done as soon as possible,” he added.
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Housing and Public Works Minister RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury called for coordinated initiatives to deal with the risk of earthquakes.
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“The risk of earthquakes is increasing due to various natural disasters. Government is working to avoid disaster risk by overcoming existing weaknesses,” the minister said, adding that people should also be made aware of earthquake-related hazardous issues.
