PROVATi3 - DDM Component

Introduction

A Regional level Inception Workshop on “Development of Local Flood Early Warning and Dissemination System” under PROVATi3 Project-DDM Component was held on January 10th, 2022 at Gana Unnayan Kendra in Gaibandha, Bangladesh. The Department of Disaster Management (DDM) is implementing this project, which is co-financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Bangladesh. Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System collaborates as a technical partner on this project.
Md. Atiqul Huq, Director General of Department of Disaster Management was present as Chief Guest in this workshop. ADC (general)-Gaibandha, Executive Engineer of LGED, Executive Engineer of FFWC, PIO of five Upazila, UDMC secretary, and representative of BWDB Gaibandha attended the program. This project will provide a solution for localized flood early warning information as part of subcomponent 2.3 of the PROVATi3 project. The flood warning system is intended to reduce losses caused by floods in flood-prone, low-lying portions of Bangladesh's northwestern region, where agricultural land is frequently devastated by floods during the monsoon season.
This initiative will seek to improve flood early warning and dissemination systems in northern Bangladesh’s three most flood-prone districts: Kurigram, Gaibandha, and Jamalpur for the next five years. Developing an effective dissemination system of flood forecast and early warning of FFWC for end-users is one of the primary objectives of this project. In addition, several decision support tools will be developed and integrated into the Government system to ensure sustainability.

Workshop guests and participants

Honourable Director General Md. Atiqul Huq, Department of disaster management, was present as the Chief Guest and Netai Chandra Dey Sarker, Director (MIM) & Project Coordinator, Provati3 Project-DDM Component, Department of Disaster Management, presided over the programme as Chairperson. Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sadekur Rahman, was present as special guest. The detailed Participant list can be found in the Annex-1.

Session 1: Inaugural Session

Probir Kumar Das, Deputy Project Coordinator, Provati3 Project-DDM Component, Department of Disaster Management welcomed all the participants and convened the meeting with the permission of honourable Chief Guest Md. Md. Atiqul Huq, Director General, Department of Disaster Management.
Netai Chandra Dey Sarker, Director (MIM) & Project Coordinator, Provati3 Project-DDM Component, Department of Disaster Management, extended a warm welcome to everyone and expressed his appreciation for their participation in this inception workshop. He begins by providing everyone with an overview of the project's goal and action plan. He explains how this project differs from previous projects in terms of traditional flood forecasting and how it will help the community. He noted that simply providing information regarding flood water rise is not sufficient; rather, he outlined how this project will provide need-based flood forecasting and timely harvesting information to the community people. At the end of his speech, he stated his certainty in the proper implementation of this project. Director-General of DDM, Md. Atiqul Huq kept his opening remarks focused on the importance of the forum and its goal of disaster risk reduction. Talking about his flood-related experience of 1998, he voiced his optimism about the project's successful implementation. As a result of his prior work in Bangladesh's flood-prone areas, he was able to share his substantial ideas and knowledge on a variety of projects. He stated that most projects do not sustain, which is why he is focusing on the eradication of poverty levels among extremely poor people through different projects. He invited everyone to collaborate in order to bring the PROVATi3 Project to a successful conclusion. In the inauguration speech, Mr Sadekur Rahman, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Gaibandha, drew attention to some of the most major issues facing the district of Gaibandha. He stated that the growth of a nation cannot be sustained if its citizens are constantly in despair and a threat of disaster. He wished the project success and expressed the hope that the second phase would be implemented soon after the first.

Session 2: Presentation on Local Flood Early Warning and Dissemination Systems by RIMES

Md. Faqrul Arefin, Program Manager, delivered a presentation explaining the project's comprehensive objectives as well as essential technical activities such as updating and validating the existing danger level, installing river gauges and land gauges, and creating a Localized Inundation Map. He stated that the vital support to the project activities would be to conduct an early warning system audit to identify areas for improvement and associated information needs at different levels of early warning knowledge dissemination from national to community level.

Session 3: Presentation from Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre

Md. Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, Executive Engineer, Bangladesh Water Development Board, delivered an insightful presentation on flood management and the Flood Forecast Network of BWDB. Later he shared the role of Flood Forecast and Warning Center in Provati Project like Gauge to gauge correlation, Installation of new gauges in the project area, Involving the local water development board in setting up local gauges and integration with BWDB's Auto gauge Network.

Session 4: Open Discussion

Attendees took part in an open discussion on the“Development of Local Flood Early Warning and Dissemination System” and the Provati Project . Participants raised essential issues during the open- discussion and suggested ways to improve different aspects of the project. The key observations and recommendations are as follows. Md. Ashraful Alam proposed placing an electronic board in a prominent location where people could be drawn to it, such as along a river area. If installing an electronic board is not feasible, he recommends installing a conventional board in an accessible location and recruiting volunteers to assist the public in understanding the appropriate flood warnings and advisories. UP secretary of Saghata Union advised involving community people into group discussions and training them so that they can reap the benefits of the project in the ways that best suit their needs. Md. Mowazzem Hossain, Union Parishad Secretary, Holdia recounted his experience and stated that he has witnessed a better success rate when miking through religious institutions. The suggestion of a billboard originated from Provati Project-LGED and was found to be quite effective. Upazila Engineer, Saghata remarked that when selecting the dissemination mechanism, it is important to consider what is locally appropriate.

Session 5: Conclusion of the workshop

Under subcomponent 2.3 of the PROVATi3 project, the Department of Disaster Management will provide a solution for localized flood early warning information dissemination. The warning system is expected to reduce losses caused by floods in the flood-prone, low-lying areas of the northwestern part of Bangladesh. The inception workshop at Gaibandha served as a forum for open discussion and collaboration on local level flood warning and dissemination systems. Deputy Project Coordinator, Provati3 Project-DDM Component, Department of Disaster Management showed gratitude to everyone for their insightful suggestions and constructive feedback. He concluded the session expressing his hope to implement the recommendations for enhancing forecast information generation and applications.

Regional Level Inception Workshop on "Development of Local Flood Early Warning and Dissemination System"