A taskforce comprising officials of 14 government agencies was forced to suspend their operation in the face of angry protests from local traders in Bakshibazar, on the second day of the month-long crackdown. The drive resumed after around two hours following direct intervention of Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon. Another taskforce, however, carried out its work in Shaheednagar area without hindrance. The scenario was all the same yesterday.
On Monday, the Mayor announced that a month-long crackdown would be launched against warehouses of “dangerous chemicals”, and utility lines of 21 such establishments in Shaheednagar and Islambagh were snapped on Thursday. Some 30 to 40 traders along with their staff started chanting slogans against the drive and alleged that they did not get enough time to shift their warehouses and factories. A director of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry who led the protest said the taskforce was taking action against the factories and warehouses which do not store 29 “dangerous chemicals” listed by the authorities.
After the chemical-fed fire in Nimtoli claimed 124 lives in 2010, the government took up four projects to relocate four types of industries — chemical, plastic, printing and light electronics — from this part of the capital. Around nine years down the line, the implementation of those projects still remains at the preliminary stage mainly due to problems associated with land acquisition and bureaucratic tangles.
Against this backdrop, the Industries Ministry selected two temporary sites in the capital and Tongi to relocate chemical warehouses and factories from Old Dhaka. Industries Secretary has said they would start relocation within the next 15 days. There are some 4,000 chemical warehouses and factories in the Old Town, posing serious fire risk to people of the heavily congested area.
It remains to be seen whether the government can force almost 4000 warehouses and factories to move within the next 15 days. Logistically it seems an insurmountable task. Also the major problem remains whether the government can convince all of them to move within a suitable timeframe. If it doesn’t we are back to the same situation where the citizens of densely populated Old Dhaka are at risk.
