Neighbours join hands in calamity fight
Staff Reporter
The governments of Bangladesh and Indias West Bengal will work together to tackle natural calamities, given that the next door neighbours are often subjected to the same kind of disasters simultaneously.
The matter was discussed during a meeting between Bangladeshs disaster management and relief minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya and West Bengals fire, disaster management and civil defence minister Javed Ahmed Khan in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Secretary of disaster management and relief ministry of Bangladesh, Shah Kamal, principal secretary of West Bengal, S Suresh Kumar, and director general of the Disaster Management Directorate of Bangladesh, Riaz Ahmed, among others, attended the meeting.
According to a press release issued by the disaster management and relief ministry, the two ministers discussed initiatives taken by their respective governments to reduce disaster risk. They also decided to exchange early information on and warnings against disasters with each other, the release says.
The West Bengal minister requested Bangladesh to take coordinated steps to protect the Sundarbans considering that it was a protective shield against cyclones and sea surges. Maya assured him to work together in this regard. With both sides agreeing to send delegations to each others countries to work in this regard, the West Bengal government will send an invitation to Bangladesh very soon to kick-start the process.
Earlier on Friday, Maya had met Indian home minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi. They agreed to strengthen sharing of early information regarding all kinds of natural disasters.
