The Department of Disaster Management has procured only 14 per cent of the targeted emergency equipment for search-and-rescue operations in five years under a Tk 1,851.30 crore project, raising concerns about the country’s preparedness for major disasters.

Although officials say some equipment has been handed over to disaster response agencies since the government took office in February, supplies had yet to reach their destinations as of October 12.

On the eve of International Disaster Response Day today (Tuesday), disaster management experts expressed dissatisfaction with the slow progress of procurement and distribution in a country highly vulnerable to disasters.

The department launched the third phase of the Tk 1,851.30 crore Procurement of Equipment for Search, Rescue Operation and Emergency Communication for Earthquake and Other Disaster project in 2021.

A progress report submitted to the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief on October 6 showed that procurement had reached only 14 per cent.

‘The reported progress is non-significant. This is completely unacceptable in such a severely disaster-vulnerable country,’ Mohammed Moniruzzaman Khan, associate professor and director of the Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies at Dhaka University, told New Age on Monday.

Between 2021 and 2025, lightning strikes killed 1,530 people, the highest death toll among disasters. During the period, 124,486 fire incidents killed 654 people, six major cyclones claimed 52 lives, and landslides killed at least 90 people.

Major floods caused economic losses of Tk 29,860 crore, followed by cyclones at Tk 11,736 crore, fires at Tk 2,020 crore, earthquakes at Tk 108 crore and lightning strikes at Tk 105 crore, according to a worksheet of the parliamentary standing committee.

Launched in 2006, the project procured emergency equipment worth Tk 69 crore in its first phase, which ended in 2010, and Tk 143 crore in its second phase, implemented between 2013 and 2017. The third phase is scheduled to end in June 2027.

Under the third phase, the government planned to procure 105 watercraft, 450 firefighting equipment items, 17,607 electrical search-and-rescue items, 390,354 rescue kits and 13,142 telecommunications devices for the Department of Disaster Management, Fire Service and Civil Defence, Armed Forces Division, police, Rapid Action Battalion, Cyclone Preparedness Programme and Bangladesh Red Crescent Society.

With about eight months remaining before the deadline, the low procurement rate has raised doubts about whether the targets can be achieved on time.

DDM officials attributed the delay to disputes over vendors’ experience and technical standards. Unsuccessful bidders lodged complaints against selected companies, while complaints were also filed against the project director.

The review panel of the Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority subsequently ordered the cancellation of signed contracts. The companies concerned filed writ petitions, and the court stayed implementation of the panel’s order, leaving the procurement process stalled, officials said.

In February, the DDM allocated 22,676 rescue kits to the Red Crescent, 38,000 to the CPP and 31,800 to the department for distribution over six months.

The kits contain stretchers, protective gear, helmets, megaphones, torchlights, ropes, cutting tools, shovels, lifebuoys and tarpaulins.

Red Crescent deputy director Shahinur Rahman said on Monday that some of the allocated kits had yet to reach the organisation’s headquarters by October 12.

DDM director general Razwanur Rahman said equipment in 100 categories had been handed over to the Armed Forces Division and equipment in 30 categories to Fire Service and Civil Defence.

‘The percentage of procurement will increase in the revised report when the new distributions are included,’ he said.

Project director Kazi Shafiqul Alam, who said he was ill, told New Age that he would respond to questions later.

Barishal-5 lawmaker Mazibar Rahman Sarwar, a member of the parliamentary standing committee, said equipment shortages sometimes hampered disaster response.

He also suggested that the involvement of people without technical expertise might have contributed to the procurement problems.

‘The committee members will discuss the low progress of the project and recommend its quick pace,’ he said.