Staff Correspondent

The second meeting of the 'Standing Committee on Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief' of the 12th National Parliament was held on Wednesday at the Sangsad Bhavan under with Committee President A.S.M, Feroz MP.

The committee members State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md Mohibbur Rahman, Shaheen Akhtar, Mojibur Rahman Chowdhury, Salauddin Mahmud and Ashrafun Necha attended the meeting.

The meeting reviewed the implementation progress of the decisions of the previous meeting. A discussion on the 'Herring Bone Bond Scheme' aimed at sustaining rural dirt roads and detailed discussions on what to do to deal with fire incidents, flood risk, lightning etc. was held.

In the meeting, the committee recommended to the Ministry to take appropriate measures to include Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense Department and "Bangladesh Meteorological Department" under the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief in order to bring transparency in forecasting and overall cooperation in dealing with natural disasters on an urgent basis.

In the meeting, the committee recommended the use of building codes for construction of rural roads and construction of earthquake resistant infrastructure under the Uni Block scheme.

In the meeting, the committee recommended to the Ministry to take initiatives to increase fish farming and supply clean water through TR Kabikha by digging village fun ponds and cleaning them.

Besides, the committee recommended to the ministry to regularly sprinkle water on the roads and provide saline and pure water to the people at the upazila level in order to keep the weather cool during the extreme heat.

In the meeting, deep respects were paid who killed on the night of August 15, 1975, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib, including all family members, three million martyrs of the Liberation War, two million mothers and sisters who lost their honor, four national leaders and all the martyrs in the language movement.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, the heads of various organizations and the relevant officials of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief and Bangladesh National Parliament Secretariat were present in the meeting.