Various organisations on Saturday urged the government to immediately remove chemical factories, warehouses and shops from residential areas.
The state minister for law, Quamrul Islam, said that everyone should be aware of dangerous chemical substances while addressing a discussion programme in the city, and pointed out that the government alone could not solve the problem.
The Bangladesh Paribesh Andalan and Puratan Dhaka Paribesh Unnayan Forum jointly organised the discussion in the premises of Doctor Muhammad Shahidullah College.
Quamrul claimed that the government has started to take stern action against unlicensed businessmen and urged the occupants of residential areas to keep a vigilant eye on chemical concerns in their areas.
The participants at the discussion said the tragic Nimtali conflagration, which claimed some 124 lives in Old Dhaka, has proved the overwhelming danger posed by chemical substances stored in residential areas.
They alleged that these accidents were the result of the lack of planned urbanisation, failure to enforce laws and the absence of business ethics.
The speakers demanded removal of all chemical factories, warehouses and shops from residential areas, expansion of the narrow lanes in Old Dhaka, preservation of water-bodies, and vigilant monitoring of chemical factories and warehouses.
They further demanded activation of the Water Supply and Sewerage Authority’s high-drain points and re-evaluation and implementation of existing laws on production, preservation and use of chemical substances.
The college’s principle Abdul Alim, BAPA’s general secretary Mohammad Abdul Matin and the Forum’s convener Ashraf Amir Ullah were present at the programme.
Save the Environment Movement, Nagarbashi Sangathan and Green Mind Society jointly formed a human chain in front of the Nimtali Chhata mosque, demanding establishment of a separate industrial city on Dhaka’s outskirts to which the chemical factories and warehouses can be shifted.
The activists said that any minor fault in the management of chemical substances could be the reason for dangerous incidents like the Nimtali fire, and added that establishment of an industrial city outside the residential areas could reduce such accidents.
Seven months after the Nimtali conflagration, the government’s foot-dragging approach in relocating chemical factories and warehouses from residential areas has increased the anxiety of the residents concerned, they said.
They demanded an up-to-date policy for the production, selling and preservation of chemical substances and complete banning of the storage of chemical substances in residential areas.
They further demanded a mandatory system to appoint trained persons for the management of all chemical factories and warehouses.
Save the Environment Movement’s president Abu Naser Khan, secretary Halimdad Khan, Nagarbashi Sangathan’s president Haji Ansar Ali, Green Mind Society’s president Amir Hasan, and Dusta Manab Unnayan Sangstha’s chairman Mozzammel Haque were also present at the programme.
