Effectiveness of union disaster management committee for flood disaster management: a comparative srudy

Abstract

Bangladesh is arguably the world's most disaster prone country. Almost every year, millions at people and the huge infrastructure o f the country are seriously affected by flood. The impacts and vulnerabilities to disasters could be minimized through proper disaster management phmnmg and by integrating disaster management activities with local and national development plan. Government ol Bangladesh (GOB) has a well recognized disaster management institutional frameworit that extends from the highest level o f government to Union level. Standing Orders on Disaster (SOD] issued by I lie Government o f Bangladesh clearly defines the roles and responsibilities o f UDMCs. UDMC bears the overall responsibilities o f execution o f SOD at grass root level. In reality most o f the UDMCs are not functional due to various reasons such as Sack o f awareness, lack o f resources, lack ol proper training, tack o f budget, decision making authority and absence o f proper monitoring and follow up etc. The main objective o f this study is to examine the effectiveness o f Union Disaster Management Committee for flood disaster management. The research method adopted in this study is exploratory, descriptive and analytical in nature. Two types of data -primary and secondary, have been used to reach the research goal. The primary data are collected from a flood prone union o f Bera Upazila In Pahna district, through questionnaire survey and key informants interview and the secondary data are collected from various types o f books, journals, articles, published and unpublished documents and Government offices and official websites. Various siatistical/computing softwares such SPSS, Excel have been used to process and analyze raw data* The major findings o f the study are UDMC members do not have adequate knowledge on the SOD. Most o f them work in a traditional manner rather than following the standings order. The study also finds (hat regular meeting related to preparation in the disaster action plan are more or less absent m practice. The members of UDMC are found less active in enhancing public awareness on Hood disasters, imparting training. 'Hie relief operations and programs for victim’s rehabilitation arc inadequate in lacl and possible flood shelters were not properly earmarked. The wanting system limitedly helps the flood prone people indeed due to tlic lack o f limited lead time. Side by side newly appointed member o f UDMC are not aware ahout their responsibilities. There exist poor follow tip and monitoring mechanism for effective flood management. Finally, it is found that UDMC o f Haturia Nakalia is more effective than Chakla Union. The reason is Haturia 'Nakalia is more vulnerable to frequent flood disasters that’s why the stockholders experienced different response and rehabilitation works in past and came to know about SOD by working with NGOs. Experiencing from tins study, it can be recommended that in order to make SOD fully functional and strengthening effectiveness o f UDMCs, members should be trained up for local disaster risk reduction planning. Jfhe study also recommend for allocation o f sufficient resources, establishing proper monitoring and follow up system and disaster management rule should be formulated immediately to execute the proper effectiveness o f UDMCs at Union Level.