Regional efforts a must to set up early weather warning system

"Ours is a region which is more vulnerable to the severest of these meteorological phenomena than any other part of the world," said State Minister for Education ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon at the 10th Governing Board Meeting of the Saarc Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC).

"The Bay of Bengal is known to spew out the highest storm surges in the world," he added.

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Citing the extent of devastation caused by natural disasters in Bangladesh, Milon said five lakh people died in 1970 cyclone and 1.40 lakh died in 1991 cyclone.

Referring to the increased frequency and severity of floods and droughts in recent times in the south Asia region, he said that adverse impacts of global climatic changes have already started to indicate the consequences.

This year's floods in Bangladesh has caused a loss of several thousand crores of taka, exceeding all the previous records, said Defence Secretary Mesbah Uddin Ahmed.

"A focused research study on the changing weather pattern is required to address the issue regionally," he added.

The Saarc region is very much prone to meteorological and hydrological natural hazards like cyclones and storm surges, said Chairman of the SMRC Governing Board Mohammad Rafique of Pakistan.

Responding to what advancement the SMRC has brought in the weather warning system in the region, Director of the Saarc Secretariat Kesang Wangdi said the member countries through the SMRC have been "sharing each other's expertise among themselves, gathering information and producing studies thereby influencing their respective policymaking on weather forecast."

Representatives from all seven Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries and weather experts are taking part in the three-day meeting.

The SMRC has now been functioning at Bangladesh Meteorological Department and the centre is expected to move to its own office in Dhaka, now under construction, by January next, said its officials.