When the Networks Go Down: Bangladesh Runs Nationwide Radio Drill for Quakes, Floods, and Worse

Disaster planning is only as good as the last time you actually tested it, and Bangladesh has just put its emergency communications backbone through a serious workout.

The Fire Service and Civil Defence, working alongside the Amateur Radio Association of Bangladesh (ARAB), has completed a three-day joint communication exercise designed to test whether rescue and emergency services can keep functioning if conventional communication networks fail during a major disaster.

Sixteen Sites, Every Division, Every Scenario

Running from Sunday 23rd to Tuesday 25th August, the exercise spanned 16 locations across all eight divisions of the country, simulating a full range of disaster scenarios: earthquakes, cyclones, tidal surges, floods, radioactive incidents, and landslides.

Lt Col Md Mahmudul Hasan, Fire Service Director (Operations and Maintenance), opened proceedings on Sunday morning. He was joined by officials including Deputy Director Md Mamunur Rashid, Dhaka Divisional Deputy Director Md Saleh Uddin, and ARAB General Secretary Anup Kumar Bhowmik. The whole exercise was organised under the direction of Fire Service Director General Brig Gen Muhammad Zahed Kamal, with the goal of keeping rescue teams in uninterrupted contact during major disasters.

What Was Actually Being Tested

At its core, the drill focused on how ARAB members could work alongside Fire Service personnel to set up and restore alternative radio communication systems in the event the Fire Service's own network goes down mid-disaster. Officials said it also served a broader purpose — strengthening coordination between the two organisations and smoothing out how their teams operate jointly in a real emergency.

Three Days, Top-to-Bottom Oversight

On day two, Brig Gen Zahed Kamal visited the Mirpur site in person to inspect activities and brief the teams on the ground. On the final morning, Lt Col MA Azad Anwar, Director of Training, Planning and Development, carried out the last full inspection before the exercise formally wrapped up at 3:30 PM.

The closing session brought it full circle: Lt Col Md Mahmudul Hasan established radio contact from the Fire Service's Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) in Mirpur, linking up with Fire Service officials and ARAB representatives across every division in the country. The whole nationwide exercise was also evaluated virtually before the drill was formally closed out.

It's a strong example of amateur radio doing exactly what it's built for — stepping into the gap the moment conventional infrastructure can't be relied on.