Saturday’s fire in soap and plastic factories in densely populated Bangshal in Old Dhaka brought back haunting memories of the Nimtoli blaze. On June 3, 2010, a fire
broke out in chemical warehouses and spread to houses claiming 124 lives. After the Nimtoli blaze, voices were raised from different quarters, urging relocation of
chemical warehouses from residential areas in the old city. Despite pleas by the government and formation of committees, nothing has been done so far. Fire service
and civil defence officials said dozens of fire incidents have taken place in the area since the Nimtoli tragedy.
It is estimated that 80 per cent of residential houses in Old Dhaka have factories or warehouses on the ground floor and residential flats. There are either chemicals
or plastic material that are dangerously toxic and inflammable. The law says there cannot be any commercial organisation, let alone a factory or chemical warehouse, in
a residential building. But localities like Nabab Katra, Bangshal, Siddique Bazar, Babu Bazar, Armanitola have hundreds of factories or warehouses with inflammable
objects stored on the ground floor. After the Nimtoli inferno, the authorities carried out drives and sealed over two dozen chemical warehouses, but pressure from the
business community forced a sudden suspension of the drive.
A task force commissioned by the government in the wake of the Nimtoli tragedy, came up with a 19-point recommendation for relocation of these establishments. An
inter-ministerial meeting in April 2011, chaired by then home minister Sahara Khatun, set up two committees — one for selecting the relocation site and the other for
framing relocation guidelines. They were asked to come up with suggestions in line with the task force’s recommendations.
While the site selection committee submitted its report within the stipulated time, proposing Keraniganj as the
relocation site, there has been little progress since.
“Two committees were formed – one by the home ministry and another by the industries ministry — for relocation of chemical factories and warehouses. The Bangladesh
Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) under the industries ministry submitted its report. I don’t know about the report of the home ministry,” chairman of
the BSCIC, Shyam Sunder Sikder, told The Independent. He added that there has been no major progress so far.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, executive director of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association (BELA), said there is no option but to relocate the factories to a safer
place to minimise the risk of fire in Old Dhaka.
“The City Corporation should stop issuing trade licences to do business in Old Dhaka as it is already a highly congested area with residential and business
establishments. The government should provide a separate area for such small business establishments outside the residential area,” she said.
The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) annually issues about 1.75 lakh to two lakh trade licences to small businessmen under its jurisdiction. They do not have the
figures of how many are running their business without trade licence.
“We have stopped issuing trade licences for chemical business, considering the frequent fire incidents in the jurisdiction area of the DSCC. But recently a court has
given a directive to issue trade licences again for the chemical business. We are looking into the matter,” Md Mostafa Kamal, chief revenue officer of the DSCC, said.
“Old Dhaka is a fire-prone area. Many small factories are located on congested
and narrow roads and lanes. If there is a blaze, fire engines and ambulances cannot reach the spot,” Abu Naser Khan, chairman of Paribesh Bachao Andolan (PABA), said.
“If we want to survive, we have to relocate the factories. For this, the government and people have to come forward. The government alone cannot do anything. It
should involve people of the localities and find out how best the factories can be relocated,” he added.
The Kashaituli fire originated from a tin-shed soap factory and then spread to a nearby plastic hanger factory, said Major Mahbub, director (operation) of the Fire
Service and Civil Defence.
“Fire has become common in Old Dhaka as it is densely populated and has haphazardly set up small factories, including chemical units,” he said, adding that the fire at
Kashaituli is under investigation. At this stage, he suspected that the fire might have been caused by chemical reaction or electrical short-circuit.
Residents and green activists feel that unless urgent steps are taken, there could be many more Nimtoli tragedies.
Courtesy of The Independent
