The probe body formed by the home ministry said that the devastating Chawkbazar fire that claimed the lives of at least 80 people on February 20 originated from the first floor of Wahed Mansion. The five-member committee submitted its report to Home Minister on Thursday, said a media report. The home ministry on February 22 formed the five-member committee, headed by additional secretary Pradip Ranjan Chakraborty, to investigate the incident.
What’s interesting is that Industries Minister on February 21 said the Chawkbazar fire originated from a gas cylinder blast. As per his explanation, the four-storey building Wahed Mansion which caught the fire first, housed a hotel while there was a vehicle with gas cylinders for delivering those to households. “The explosion took place from any of them,” he said. Industries ministry also formed a 12-member committee to find out the reason behind the inferno. Almost the same statements were delivered by the Dhaka South City Corporation’s mayor just after the incident.
One thing is clear that, the authorities concerned responsible to check the storing of inflammable chemical substance tried to shift their responsibility by issuing tricky statements. We know, it is not possible to tell the actual reason of fire before a thorough investigations by the Fire Service and Civil Defence and other concerned bodies. So, it’s a big question how the fabricated statements could be issued by the minister and DSCC top brass when all of them were aware of expanding chemical business in the Old Dhaka areas. How several new chemical factories got licence even after Nimtoli tragedy. Why DSCC didn’t take awareness programme in this regard?
The Prime Minister on Thursday expressed her government’s firm stance on relocating the warehouses of inflammable materials from Old Dhaka and other residential areas in the capital. “Such inflammable materials can’t be allowed there. We are looking for a separate place for them. We don’t want to ruin their businesses. But no chemical warehouse can be allowed in residential areas,” she asked.
We see, in case of every problem the ministries and the concerned departments always look for directions. They should promptly act on their own and be also responsible for their actions.
