Bangladesh not yet ready for new warning signals

Despite drawing up a fresh set of weather warning signals, the government says it is not yet ready to introduce them.

Officials say that people are so familiar with the present set of signals, that it is not yet considered timely to replace them.
 
Seaports use cautionary signals from 1 to 10 and river ports use cautionary signals 1 to 8 at the moment.
 
In 2009, the disaster management ministry reviewed the warning signals and decided to bring down the total to eight from 15.

The new set of signals were to be in place for use from Apr 1, 2009 in keeping with the then minister Abdur Razzak's promise to introduce a 'people-friendly' set of warning signals.
 
Six years have passed but the new set of signals has not yet been introduced.
 

"No where in the world would one still find port-based warning signals. They are linked to coastal locations. We can easily cut out at least 3 cautionary signals from the present set, but that has not happened," Md Shah Alam, Director of Bangladesh Meteorological Department, told bdnews24.com.

Government officials, however, say that they were ‘not facing any problems’ because the people were so familiar with the old set of warning signals.

“The existing warning system is applicable for ports. The local administrations as well as the people are used to it. As soon as a warning is raised, authorities start to evacuate people,” said Alam.

He feared introducing the new set of signals might create confusion.

The disaster management department also felt the same way.

“The existing system is working fine. So, the initiative to modernise it did not gain much traction,” the department’s Director General Md Riaz Ahmed told bdnews24.com.

Referring to the Cyclone Komen in July this year, he said around 2.3 million people were evacuated within two hours as the cyclone approached Bangladesh coast.

“A new set of signals may create confusion. The existing signals elicit immediate response because people and officials are used to it. So it seems that the new system will not be introduced,” said Ahmed.

The disaster management secretary also said it may be a good idea to continue with the old set of warning signals.

“We are quite successful in handling disasters. Advance information is also available through mobile phones now. In this context, the existing system should be followed,” Secretary Md Shah Kamal told bdnews24.com.