They also laid emphasis on introducing disaster preparedness and management in the national curriculum and adequate publicity in mass media to help raise awareness in this regard.

The roundtable titled 'Accident management and disaster preparedness in the cities of Bangladesh - present perspective and future expectations' was jointly organised by the Centre for Development Research, Bangladesh (CDRB) and Bangladesh Real Estate Directory (BD-RED) to mark the inauguration of BD-RED Abasan Mela (housing fair) 2007 at a city hotel.

The speakers said the state of public awareness campaign about disaster management is very poor and there is no preparedness at individual, familial, organisational and community level in the country.

They urged both print and electronic media to publish and broadcast relevant programmes on disaster management more frequently as they can play a significant role in building awareness about the issue.

The speakers also recommended introduction of community-based disaster management training to meet any situation that may arise following severe storms, earthquake, fire or building collapse.

CDRB Chairman Mizanur Rahman Shelley said, "We have built many high-rise buildings in the city but paid a little attention to build a safe city." `

Disaster preparations have not been taken properly and people also are not aware of proper steps resulting in more casualties, he added.

"We must take lessons from different accidents of immediate past and prepare ourselves with a comprehensive accident management," he said.

Barrister Harun-ar Rashid said disaster management is taught at school level in the developed countries but we don't have any such system in our country.

The issue of disaster management should be included in the school curriculum so that the next generation could have a practical knowledge from their early age, he added.

Selim Newaz Bhuiyan, deputy director of the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said disaster preparedness is not possible without the training of the first responder or the neighbour as concerted and coordinated actions are needed to face the situation.

He said training on disaster management has been going in different units of the fire service.

Abu Naser Khan, convener of Paribesh Bachao Andolon, said real estate companies are building beautiful houses in one hand and on the other hand pushing the city towards disaster by not keeping any open space around their high-rise buildings.

He urged them to keep open spaces around the building so that people can rush there if any accident or disaster happens.

Prof Aminur Rahman of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology presented a keynote paper on the subject.

Moderating the roundtable, Prof Dr Nazrul Islam of Dhaka University said the real estate companies should concentrate their attention on environmental sustainability, cultural and social relevance and safety while constructing the buildings.