To mitigate the losses caused by landslides, GFFO, Save the Children and YPSA will take anticipatory actions in Pukuria, Sadhanpur, Kalipur, and Bailchhari unions of Banshkhali Upazila. An initiative was taken to implement this. The project is called “Child-centered Anticipatory Action for Better Preparedness of Communities and Local institution in Northern Area in Bangladesh”.
To work collectively, on June 27, 2024, YPSA organized an inception meeting at the Officers’ Club of Banshkhali Upazila Parishad with all the stakeholders related to the project. The stakeholders ranged from Govt. officials, the Chairman, members of Union Parishads, and landslide-affected community members. In the meeting, the project’s goals and objectives were presented and feedbacks were taken from the stakeholders during open discussion. Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Jesmin Akter, of Banshkhali Upazila was present at the meeting as the Chief Guest.
Under this project, new WDMCs will be formed, and existing WDMCs, will be activated, community volunteers will be formed, youth groups will be engaged and a resource pool also be formed. All of them will be given capacity-building training for anticipatory actions. In addition, early warning messages will be delivered to communities vulnerable to landslides. Moreover, devices like rain gauges and soil moisture sensors will be installed in targeted areas through a technical partner of the project called RIMES.
At the beginning of the meeting moderated by Assistant Project Officer Kallyan Barua, Project Manager Sanzida Akhter, delivered a welcome speech. Save the Children’s Officer (Anticipatory Action), Abu Toyab, then presented the project.
In the presentation, he addressed that Anticipatory Action (AA) is quite a new concept in Bangladesh and is different from Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). It is also very cost-effective than DRR projects he added. Then he shared the project activities and other details with all the stakeholders.
During her speech, the chief guest, UNO of Banshkhalli, Jesmin Akter said “Banshkhali Upazila in South Chattogram is known as a very disaster-prone area for cyclones and landslides. Thousands of people in the upazila are living in the risky hilly areas. Some low-income people, including the local population, are also at risk. People are reluctant to leave their homes despite the administration’s efforts to evacuate them to safe shelters. Moreover, the administration tries its best to prevent landslides.”
Highlighting the possibility of landslides at any time due to heavy rains, she emphasized the effective initiatives of the administration as well as non-governmental organizations and raising awareness among the local population. She praised the activities of YPSA in the past few days, including providing houses for the homeless and distributing sewing machines and cattle. She hopes that the Child-Centered Anticipatory Action Project implemented by YPSA, Save the Children, and GFFO will play a very effective role in raising awareness among the vulnerable population in the hilly areas. She expressed her opinion and assured full cooperation in implementing the project.
Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Abdul Khalek Patwari, Upazila Agriculture Officer Abu Salek, Upazila Animal Resources Officer Dr. Supan Kumar Nandi, Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury, Sadhanpur UP Chairman KM Salah Uddin Kamal, Forest Division Kalipur Range Officer Al Amin Haque, Project Implementation Officer Engineer Lipton Om, CPP Officer Mitu Kumar Dash, Assistant Youth Development Officer Mamunur Rashid, Fire Service and Civil Defense representative, Kalipur UP Member Lokman Hossain, Reena Akhter, Journalist Shah Muhammad Shafi Ullah, Journalist Abu Bakkar Babul, Journalist Prakash Bara, Journalist Md. Riyadul Islam, Journalist Tafhimul Islam, YPSA’s Project Officer Md. Ataul Hakim and Mahinur Akhtar, Monitoring Officer S. M. Shahriar Alam, APO Riyaz Uddin Talukder, Md. Enamul Haque, and Aman Ullah along with teachers, students, CPP members, landslide-affected family members, and others were also present.