Relocation deadline expires on Thursday
The industries minister, Dilip Barua, has said the government would take stern action against the people who failed to relocate chemical factories and warehouses from Old Town of Dhaka as the deadline for the job expired on the Thursday.
The industries minister on Thursday told New Age the ministry would ask the task force on the matter to take legal action against the factories and warehouses that failed the relocation deadline.
Fire Service and Civil Defence director Sheikh Muhammad Shahjalal, a member on the task force, told New Age the task force had not sat in three to four days before the deadline expiry.
The fire service and civil defence directorate gave a list of 965 shops and warehouses, of which 200 are licensed, the narcotics control department a list of 97 licensed establishments and the district administration a list 47 licensed establishments to the task force on August 22.
The government first initiated the move for the relocation of chemical warehouses from residential areas in Old Town on June 6 against the backdrop of the June 3 Nimtali fire, which spread through inflammable chemicals. At least 124 died in the fire.
The industries ministry on August 17 extended the deadline, which expired on August 16, amid pressure from business groups and chambers.
Chemical warehouses and factories are ‘massively’ spread across Old Town and in other areas such as Azimpur, Mohammadpur, Tejgaon, Gulshan, Jatrabari.
According to the records of the Bangladesh Chemical and Perfumery Merchant Association, 80 per cent of its 640 members are chemical traders.
An official of the association said, ‘There are about 10,000 chemical warehouses in the country and a fourth of them are in the Dhaka metropolitan area.’
The industries ministry on August 22 also issued another directive to the task force for the relocation of chemical warehouses and factories dealing with 20 dangerous chemicals.
