WHY are we so good at mourning deaths and so bad at preventing disasters that cause those unscheduled deaths? I raise this question to illustrate how culture, governance and disaster planning are entangled and reinforce one another. A national mourning was observed on Saturday June 5, which went without a hitch. And of course, the nation should grieve together, shed tears, spare a thought for the families of the victims but the government and all those who matter should contemplate how such tragedies could happen right under their nose and what can be done to prevent such catastrophes in the future.

It is time for taking responsibility and not passing the buck. The buck must stop at the gates of the authorities. If such a tragedy had befallen any other democracy, lets say Japan, the minister in charge would step down. Bangladesh is not there yet on the sliding scale of democracy. But that should not stop us from reflecting on what can be done and how.

First, a thorough investigation must take place to dig out the facts of the matter, establish causes of the two tragedies (building

collapse at Begunbari and conflagration at Nimtoli). The main purpose of such an investigation should be to establish a solid preventive strategy to avoid such urban disasters in the future. And yes, those who are culpable for issuing building permits and allowing shoddy building construction in exchange of bribes must be brought to book

Corruption is one of the major causes of such urban disasters. Strengthening disaster preparedness must begin with the improvement of governance. And here one should take a closer look at the administrative architecture before scrutinising the structural properties of the buildings. Again, this does not mean dispatching a rag-tag team of demolishers who would end up killing themselves while trying to remove unauthorised structures with inadequate equipment.

The building collapse of Begunbari shows not just the weakness of those structures but also the palpable shoddiness of Rajuk. According to a Bengali newspaper, a Rajuk official has filed a case at Tejgaon police station against the builder of that unfortunate house which collapsed on less-fortunate tin-shed neighbors leaving a trail of death and destruction.

Brig. Gen. Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defense, in a preliminary assessment speculated four probable causes of the fire of Nimtoli in old Dhaka which occurred days after the Begunbari tragedy. According to The Daily Star, (June 5) Brig. General Nayeem though that the blaze "might have been started from an oil-fired oven or from the chemical go-down or transformer blasts ora tea stall in front of the building."

Other newspapers, such as Amader Shomoy, (June 5) reported the presence of a storage in one of the houses of "plastics, old papers and chemicals" and local fire officials on the ground mentioned the preparation of a feast for an engagement (Panchini) party on the ground floor that involved open-air cooking, others attributed a local bake-shop as a possible source ofthe fire.

It is premature to indulge in further speculations before the investigations are complete but one can surmise that a compound of factors transformed an ordinary fire to a conflagration. But one can see in al these scattered reports an amalgam of outmoded cultural practices, lack of governance and inadequate disaster preparedness. A precondition to enhancing disaster mitigation capability is acquiring appropriate knowledge. There is a huge gap in that regard.

At the risk of being immodest, I would quote myself from an op-ed I wrote in these pages following the earthquake of Haiti. In "From Port-au-Prince to Dhaka" (The Daily Star, January 24,2010), I wrote: "Any natural calamity is only a "natural calamity" in part. To a large extent, natural calamity, whether a tsunami or earthquake or cyclone, is medi-

ated by existing socio-economic factors in which quality of governance plays an important role." I would add fire and urban disasters to that list of catastrophes.

I also wrote: "While lack of disaster preparedness is an immediate problem and, to be fair, no administration is adequately prepared for a disaster of such a magnitude. ....Of many instances of poor governance, enforcement of housing codes is a glaring one... .The poor building standards contributed directly towards magnifying the death and destruction caused by the earthquake....Given the poor enforcement of housing codes and the high level of corruption in the various departments concerned with approving plans and enforcing building codes, Bangladesh risks a huge catastrophe. Rather than being alarmist, one must be concerned with careful disaster planning. ...Under such conditions, contingency planning is of utmost importance. A national disaster preparedness plan must be drawn involving all the stakeholders. And the time is now."

The fire department and civil defense is not adequately equipped to deal with such disasters. I spent one afternoon talking to the fire brigade officials during one of my visits to Dhaka in December, 2009.1 did not see any lack of motivation or preparedness but voices were raised about inadequate equipment. In my pep talk, I called them "unsung heroes." But dedication without equipment is not enough when facing a disaster.

Habibul Haque Khondker Is Professor of Sociology, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi.