Objectives and Target

Objectives

Natural disasters include floods, droughts, earthquakes, cyclones, hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, landslides, fire hazard, volcanic eruptions etc. and man-made disasters can include collapse of mass structures for improper construction, chemical accidents, oil spills, radiological accidents, conflicts/wars, mass population displacement or refugee emigration, forest fires etc. are common problems in our country. People of south part of Bangladesh are affected with the problems severely. The disasters not only impact to our economy adversely but also bring losses of lives. So, for reduction the huge losses, people should think about the disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness and vulnerability reduction. Huge amount of research works are required to find out sustainable solutions.

The major objectives of the Institute of Disaster Management will be:

i To undertake research studies and analysis and find out appropriate methods and strategies to tackle environmental problems and hazards.
ii To study the factors responsible for normal calamities and identify possible ways and means to reduce the extent of damage.
iii To prepare alternate reconstruction/rehabilitation and relief strategies and plans for the affected people and areas.
iv To prepare detailed natural disaster preparedness policies and plans.
v To develop data and information base for conducting research and formulating plans and projects based on accurate, up to date and time series data.
vi To provide knowledge and information concerning environment to all sections of the society.
vii To develop the capability of the professionals and institutions, both qualitatively and quantitatively to manage the environmental and disaster related problems effectively and timely.
viii To launch mass awareness campaign of environmental and disaster management.
ix To exchange views, ideas and information with related organizations both at home and abroad.
x To build up a pool of consultants of environment studies and disaster management related fields.

Target

The IDM will be a research-oriented Institute supporting higher study and research (M.Sc, Ph.D.) in the area of disaster management. The IDM will have professionals and technical staff in the field of water resource engineering, environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, geography, environmental planning, urban & rural planning, agricultural planning, management experts and computer specialists. The main activities of IDM can be summarized as:

i Providing facilities to higher study and research in the field of Water Resources Management, Coastal Engineering, Environmental Impact Assessment, GIS and Remote Sensing.
ii Carrying out environmental and disaster management research studies, surveys, investigations and inventorization of the natural resource base and determine the levels of resource utilization.
iii Assessment of present state of the environmental problems and their impacts.
iv Identification of ecological zones to protect wetlands and aquatic resources, wildlife, forests and other flora and fauna.
v Preparation of disaster relief, reconstruction, and preparedness plan.
vi Organizing training courses, in-house discussion sessions, seminars and workshops to train the personnel working in the public sectors and the private agencies.
vii Preparation of posters, leaflets and short films for raising public awareness regarding environmental and disaster management issues.
viii Designing appropriate computer based programs and techniques to develop data and information base system.
ix Establishment of network system among the various national, regional and international organization involved in environment studies and disaster management.