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SANGSAD BHABAN, Sept 3, 2026 (BSS) - The government has been building a trained pool of 100,000 volunteers to respond to major disasters, including earthquakes, said State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief M Iqbal Hossain.

“Some 70,000 volunteers have already been prepared,” he added.

The state minister made the remarks while responding to a supplementary question from ruling party lawmaker Nilufar Chowdhury Moni of Women’s Reserved Seat-10 in the Jatiya Sangsad today.

Moni asked about the government’s preparedness to deal with major disasters such as earthquakes and the availability of rescue equipment.

In reply, the state minister said the government has been taking preparations to conduct rescue operations following earthquakes while also implementing various programmes to raise public awareness.

He said the government has been working, under the Prime Minister’s directive, to build a pool of 100,000 volunteers.

“Already, 70,000 volunteers have been prepared. Through training, we are making them capable of properly conducting rescue operations during earthquakes and other disasters,” he said.

Regarding rescue equipment, Iqbal said the list of equipment required to respond to earthquakes is extensive.

“The government has already procured various types of equipment and distributed them among the Bangladesh Army, Fire Service, Ansar and other agencies directly involved in disaster response,” he said.

He added that the government has taken steps to procure additional equipment and the tender process for those items is currently underway.

The state minister further said the government has also prepared a list of disaster-response and rescue equipment available in the private sector.

“We plan to seek assistance from private institutions and use their equipment when necessary during disasters,” he said.