2nd Monthly Journal of serving as an intern at MoDMR

North South University

Internship
ENV 498

2nd Monthly Journal Report

Organization: Ministry of Disaster Management and
Relief (MoDMR)

Student Name: Nazifa Tasnim Rodela

Student ID:
Semester: Fall, 2021

Submitted to:
Dr. Name
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands;
M.Sc., Queens College, City University of New York, USA

Table of Contents
 2nd Monthly Journal of serving as an intern at MoDMR

1.0 Internship Timeline...........................................................................................................1

2.0 Journal on Internship.........................................................................................................2
2.1 Week 5...........................................................................................................................2

2.2 Week 6...........................................................................................................................3

2.3 Week 7...........................................................................................................................5

2.4 Week 8...........................................................................................................................7

3.0 Personal Experience from November...............................................................................8

3.1 Work Environment........................................................................................................8

3.2 Learnings and Contributions.........................................................................................8

3.3 Challenges So Far..........................................................................................................8

4.0 Conclusion........................................................................................................................8
 2nd Monthly Journal of serving as an intern at MoDMR

1.0 Internship Timeline

Following is the briefing of my internship activities on the first month at MoMDR.

Month 02: November 2021

Week 5 1 November – 4 November

1 November Background Study on Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP).

2 November Study on CPP Unit.
3 November CPP initiatives to deal with Cyclone Yaas / Josh.

Week 6 07 November – 11 November

07 November In depth study on why Bangladesh is prone to natural disaster (Flood).

08 November Studied current preparedness guideline for public in case of Flood.
09 November Challenges faced by MoDMR during natural disasters.
10 November Report Submission on “Preventive measures for future flooding.”

Week 7 14 November – 18 November

15 November Worked on the ‘Casualty Form’ of Flood.

16 November Studied on recent earthquakes in Bangladesh.
17 November Revised guideline for Earthquake.

Week 8 21 November – 25 November

21 November Joined online conference “District Coordination Meeting.”

22 November Report submission of the conference.
23 November Article submission on the earthquake of 21st November
24 November Report submission on the duty of Disaster Risk Reduction.

1
 2nd Monthly Journal of serving as an intern at MoDMR

2.0 Journal on Internship

2.1 Week 5

Background Study on Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP) 1 November, 2021

Tropical cyclones typically impact Bangladesh twice a year, from March to July and September
to December, with the majority of storms arriving in May and October. Since, the month of
October, a few changes occurred in the Cyclone Preparedness Program. Hence, my supervisor
asked me to get a better understanding of the CPP program. The Cyclone Preparedness
Programme (CPP) was formed as a joint initiative of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and
the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) (BDRCS), following the hurricane
of 1970, which killed an estimated 1 million people. The responsibilities and activities of CPP
are:

1. Cyclone early warning,

2. Emergency management of 4,000+ Department of Disaster Management evacuation
centres (based on situation, the number of evacuation centres increase to accomodate
evacuees),
1. Search and rescue and first aid,
2. Coordination with government agencies at all levels,
3. Continued training of CPP volunteers and expansion, and
4. Conducting cyclone awareness activities through “mock drill” exercises in communities.

Study on CPP Unit 2 November, 2021

CPP Command Area consists of three field level committees namely Unit Committee, Union
Committee and Upazilla Committee. The Unit Committee is directly involved in the
implementation of the decisions. On the second day of the month, my supervisor had given me
some drafts to go through the structure of CPP unit before submitting a report on the initiative
undertaken by CPP for Cyclone Yaas. At the unit level, a Unit Committee comprising ten male

2
 2nd Monthly Journal of serving as an intern at MoDMR

and ten female volunteers elects one person as Unit Team Leader and another as Deputy Unit
Team Leader. This committee has five positions: Warning Signal, Shelter, Rescue, First Aid, and
Relief, with two male and two female volunteers in each position. Because of his leadership, the
Unit Team Leader has the position of Warning Signal. The chairman of the unit committee is the
unit team leader, and all volunteers in the units are members of the unit committee.

CPP initiatives to deal with Cyclone Yaas 3 November, 2021

To tackle Cyclone Yaas, 177 CPP units under the Cyclone Preparedness Program and 182
cyclone shelters were placed in the island upazila Hatiya in Noakhali. Though the risk of Yaas
hitting the coast of Bangladesh were low, District and upazila administrations prepared to
relocate around two million people to 4,915 permanent and temporary shelters across the
division with the dispatched CPP units. The ministry of Water Resources had issued eight
directives in order to respond accordingly to Cyclone Yaas. I submitted my detailed report on
CPP initiatives later that workday.

2.2 Week 6

Report: Bangladesh is Prone to Flood 07 November, 2021

My line manager told me to prepare an article based on the reasons behind Bangladesh being
vulnerable to Flood. As the population grows, more and more people are dwelling in flood-prone
areas, making them vulnerable. Above 60.5 million individuals were exposed to severe and
moderate floods. Within the report, I was able to explore geographic, physiographic, and hydro-
meteorological factors responsible for floods in Bangladesh. Also, report highlighted on the
important elements that determine the extent of flooding are the magnitude, synchronization of
peaks, and duration of floods.

Report Extension: Necessary Measures to mitigate casualty of Flood. 08 November, 2021

After my supervisor cross checked the report of yesterday, he asked me to include Flood Safety
Measures as well. I divided this extension part of the report into three stages, Pre-Flood Safety

3
 2nd Monthly Journal of serving as an intern at MoDMR

Measures, Essential Steps to Take During the Flood and Post-flood Safety Measures. Moreover,
the report focused on the evolution of Flood Management strategies of Bangladesh and
elaborated on Structural and Non-Structural measures of Flood Mitigation Strategies.

Attended all day event online meeting between MoDMR and Social Security Policy (SSPS)
Programme on the implementation of the NSSS Action Plan Phase 2 (2021-26).

Challenges faced by MoDMR during Natural Disasters 09 November, 2021

The third iteration of my Report included challenges of MoDMR in preparation and prevention
of nature disasters.

Report Submission on “Preventative Measures for Future Flooding.” 10 November, 2021

The conclusive part of my report discussed potential measure to prevent flood in the future. In
developed countries, experts use structural changes in rivers to minimize sedimentation of
natural drainage, create domestic and business reservoirs, deploy containment barriers, tunnels of
derivation etc. There are also effective non-structural measures undertaken by various countries
such as - Actions to regulate land use and occupation, Environmental education focused on the
control of diffuse pollution, Flood warning and forecasting systems etc.

4
 2nd Monthly Journal of serving as an intern at MoDMR

2.3 Week 7

Worked on the ‘Casualty Form’ of Flood 15 November, 2021

On this day, my supervisor took me to the field visit. The Casualty Form with 72 columns entails
each instrument of flood casualty. Following image of a board is a concised version of that form.

Studied recent earthquakes in Bangladesh. 16 November, 2021

My line manager advised me to study recent earthquakes before revising the guideline of
Earthquake. I was tasked to review and provide feedback on the guideline of what to do during
earthquake manual tomorrow. Therefore, my line manager suggested me to study about
earthquakes in details. For the rest of the day, I prepared a list of earthquakes that affected the
country in recent times and studied the measures undertaken to mitigate casualty.

5
 2nd Monthly Journal of serving as an intern at MoDMR

Revised guideline for Earthquake. 17 November, 2021

The existing guideline for surviving earthquake seemed pretty useful to me. However, I believe
emergency response guideline could be improved if there was more earthquake sustaining
infrastructure around. Also, awareness program needs to be executed to all social classes as a lot
of people still don’t know what they should do in case of an earthquake.

6
 2nd Monthly Journal of serving as an intern at MoDMR

2.4 Week 8

Joined online conference “District Coordination Meeting.” 21 November, 2021

District Coordination Meeting is held on every 3rd Sunday of the month. This meeting reflects on
the performance of the month and prepare plans and guideline for the tasks of upcoming month.

Report submission of the conference. 22 November, 2021

As I was a rapporteur of the meeting, I had to submit Meeting details including activities, topics
discussed, feedback, key decisions, observation and findings, deadlines for tasks.

Formal Leave 23 November, 2021

Due to physical illness, I had to take a formal leave on this day.

Report submission on the duty of Disaster Risk Reduction. 24 November, 2021

Because of the existence of regular hydro-meteorological hazards, Bangladesh is regarded as one

of the most vulnerable country to the effects of catastrophes and climate change. My report on
Disaster Risk Reduction works on 4 stages. Pre-disaster preparation and announcement
activities, Caution and Warning Stage activities to ensure safety measures are effective, During
disaster activities and Relief Stage. DRR is involved in all the aforementioned stages with
specific roles and duties.

7
 2nd Monthly Journal of serving as an intern at MoDMR

3.0 Personal Experience from November

3.1 Work Environment

Except for the day I went to on a field visit, virtual internship is still a barrier to experience the
work environment of MoDMR. However, the offline visit made me realize how vital my
internship could be for my improvement if it was done from the office.

3.2 Learnings and Contributions

Though I have been trying to get some more challenging tasks, work from home constraints me
to do so. As a result, I think my learning curve is going at a slow pace. My field visit was an
interesting learning opportunity. I was able to meet and learn from professionals about disaster
management and understand practical flood control issues. Also, I have been contributing in
terms of reporting events and recording meetings that has increased my writing capability
significantly.

3.3 Challenges So Far

On this month, I had to study and write some reports on various events. In-depth studying
required strenuous effort and was daunting. However, I believe this developed my restraint and
increased my ability to work under pressure.

4.0 Conclusion

I have been involved in diverse projects by my line manager and I have been trying to provide
my best output. My field visit also gave me insights on how the practical team functions and
takes decision. I wish there was a more efficient way to streamline information online when it
comes to instructions and guidelines because some time, I have to take decisions when I can not
reach my line manager. This puts a communication gap between the two of us and leads to
redoing tasks at times.