State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr. Md. Enamur Rahman said that besides planting palm trees to prevent deaths due to lightning, the government has taken initiative to construct lightning-proof concrete sheds (shelters) with lightening arresters. The project has been undertaken at a cost of Tk. 300 crore to be implemented in 23 lightning prone districts including the the haors of the country.
The State Minister was speaking as the chief guest at a seminar on "What to do to protect lives and property damage caused by lightning strikes" at the IDEB building in Kakrail, Dhaka on Thursday (October 14).
He said that initially (pilot project) 1000 lightning-resistant concrete sheds will be constructed 1 km in a row in the haor area. The probable construction cost of each shed has been estimated at Tk. 3 lakh 25 thousand. One shelter will be constructed at one kilometer intervals, so that people, including field farmers, can take shelter in the shelter as soon as they hear the thunder of the clouds. Lightning arrester will be installed in each shelter.
He added that it is not possible to prevent lightning. However, we are prioritizing three issues to reduce the death rate. One of them is the Early Warning System. Secondly, the construction of lightning-resistant concrete shelters and thirdly, raising public awareness.
Moazzem Hossain Ratan MP, Rezwan Ahmed Tawfiq MP, Enamul Haque MP, President of Save the Society and Thunderstorm Awareness Forum Prof. Dr. Kabirul Bashara and chairman of the Nature and Life also spoke as special guests on the occasion. IDEB Research and Technological Institute's Research Fellow Engineer Monir Hossain presented the keynote address.