No risk of law-and-order deterioration before election: Home adviser

There is no likelihood of any deterioration in the law-and-order situation ahead of the national election, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said today (23 November).

Speaking to journalists after a meeting of the Core Committee on Law and Order at the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Bangladesh Secretariat, he said the overall security environment is steadily improving.

"As the election approaches, the number of rallies and processions by different political parties will naturally increase. When we assumed office, the situation had already begun to deteriorate. Over the past year and a half, our efforts have helped bring significant improvement," he said.

On earthquake preparedness, the adviser said he was not aware of any country with a complete early-warning system for earthquakes.

However, he noted that several countries had developed mobile applications capable of issuing alerts around 10 seconds before tremors begin.

"We are considering whether a similar early-warning app can be introduced in Bangladesh," he said.

He stressed the importance of strictly following building codes and urged Rajuk to carefully examine any proposals for construction on filled-in waterbodies.

Responding to questions about the Fire Service's readiness during earthquakes, fires and other disasters, he said the department had demonstrated strong capability in managing recent fire incidents.

"A major earthquake would present an entirely different challenge, but we will all have to work collectively. We are working to further strengthen the capacity of the Fire Service," he added.