Bangladesh was overwhelmed by the collapse of Rana Plaza at the outskirts of it capital Dhaka on April 24, 2013. Nearly 2,500 victims were rescued while thousands have died or remain unaccounted for. Rescue operation of this worst accident in the country’s history was equally heroic and haphazard. It demonstrated the lack of readiness in terms of conducting disaster recovery operations. The incident signals the magnitude of devastation once the country is hit by earthquake. I have tried to capture the role of mobile phone industry in this respect.

1. Dealing with thousands of Rana Plaza:
Post-quake communication in Bangladesh
Abu Saeed Khan (askhan@ieee.org)
Senior Policy Fellow
LIRNEasia

2. Fire Fighters, Police, volunteers and Army
rushed and rescued the victims

3. Fire Fighters, Police, volunteers and Army
rushed and rescued the victims

4. Fire Fighters, Police, volunteers and Army
rushed and rescued the victims

5. Fire Fighters, Police, volunteers and Army
rushed and rescued the victims

6. Fire Fighters, Police, volunteers and Army
rushed and rescued the victims

7. Fire Fighters, Police, volunteers and Army
rushed and rescued the victims

8. Fire Fighters, Police, volunteers and Army
rushed and rescued the victims

9. Fire Fighters, Police, volunteers and Army
rushed and rescued the victims
He is as lucky as we have been for years

10. We are living in a hell in waiting
It means 78,323 Rana Plaza!

11. Comprehensive Disaster Management
Programme (CDMP) predicted in 2010
• Some 78,323 buildings will be destroyed completely if a 6-
magnitude earthquake shakes Dhaka.
– US $ 650 million economic loss.
• If a 7.5-magnitude earthquake strikes, some 72,316 buildings
in the city will be damaged totally while 53,166 partially.
– US $ 1,112 million economic loss.
• If an 8.5-magnitude of tremor from the plate boundary of
Fault-2 hits the region, some 238,164 buildings will be
destroyed completely across the country.
– US $ 1,075 million economic loss.

12. More scary numbers from CDMP
• Some 30 million tonnes of debris, equal to 2,880,000
truckloads (25 tonnes for per truck), will be generated if a 6-
magnitude earthquake jolts the city from beneath of it.
• A 7.5-magnitude earthquake from the Madhupur Fault will
generate a total of 30 million tonnes of debris, killing some
131,029 people instantly and injuring 32,948 others.
• According to the study, at least 10 major hospitals, 90
schools in the capital will be destroyed completely and
another 241 hospitals and clinics, 30 police stations and four
fire stations partially in case of a 7.5 magnitude quake.

13. Dr. ASM Maksud Kamal, an earthquake
and tsunami expert of the CDMP
• "As a number of moderate to heavy earthquakes
are overdue for some parts of the country, including
the capital, it is important to get ready for the
possible disasters by raising safety awareness of
people."
• "Gas leakage management, power supply
control, firefighting, alternative power
generation, wireless communication system, heavy
equipments for removing debris and emergency
clinical facilities are the top priority areas for
attention.”

14. People calls a lot while in distress
Woman cries as she talks on a telephone following the eight-storey Rana
Plaza building collapse at Savar in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Picture: EPA

15. Impact on mobile networks
• RAN installations along with PDH and SDH backhauls
are collapsed.
• Nationwide and metro OFC transmission networks are
partially or fully damaged.
• Distribution and transmission grids of power are badly
damaged.
• Storage and supply system of gasoline is compromised.
• Maintenance and operational staffs are victims too!

16. Challenges for vendors
• Fast assessment of damages
– Customers will help
• Mobilizing equipment and crew
– Quite challenging, especially keeping the power on
• Restoring the network using makeshift facilities
– RAN at elevated positions. Using VSAT for backhaul.
• Planning and implementation of full restoration
– It will be similar to ‘Green Field’ in many cases.
Requires SOP and extensive practice with
customers and regulators (BTRC & NBR)

17. Invaluable lessons from China
April 20, 2013. YA'AN, China. The 6.6-magnitude quake hit a remote
mountainous area of southwestern Sichuan province at 8:02 a.m.

18. "The first 72 hours is the golden period for rescue. We
cannot delay by a minute.,” Premier Li Keqiang.
Telecommunication became vital to the
coordination of relief operations.

19. Resulted from a comprehensive plan
• Within six hours of the
quake, Internet and phone
connections were partially
restored in Baoxing county.
• By late afternoon China’s
big three carriers said
phone calls, text messaging
and roaming services would
be free in quake-stricken
areas.
• They advised people to use
text messaging instead of
making calls, as it requires
less bandwidth.
Zhang Bin, a Chinese People's Liberation Army
soldier, carries a 60-year-old survivor as he runs
down a stretch of the road to Lingguan township
which was recently cleared of debris from landslides
caused by Saturday's earthquake, in Baoxing county
in Ya'an, Sichuan province April 22, 2013.
REUTERS/Jason Lee

20. Weibo: An 'Encouraging step forward'
• With more than 500 million users, Weibo - the Internet equivalent of
Twitter. Information about how people could themselves rescue
friends and neighbors hit by the quake was also quickly spread
through forums like Weibo.
• There were other ideas about what should be done; tolls for
highways to the affected areas should be suspended and clinics
should treat the injured for free and public buildings should, where
necessary, be opened up for the needy.
• Where these appeals were not heeded, those involved were
immediately pilloried via Weibo.
• Users are by and large agreed that the influence of social networks
has grown significantly since the 2008 quake. As one Weibo user
wrote: "Is this not an encouraging step forward?"

21. Children salute passing vehicles carrying rescuers and volunteers as they hold
cardboards with messages of gratitude, after Saturday's earthquake, in Lushan
county, Sichuan province April 23, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer