FRIDAY’S Armanitola fire originating from a chemical godown that left four dead and 25 others injured is a reminder of similar tragedies of the past. Relocation of the chemical warehouses from densely old Dhaka still remains a far cry. The administration has failed to accomplish any of the goals set after the tragic fire incidents of the past decade. The failure to move the chemical warehouses out of the congested neighbourhoods has kept the fear of recurrence of tragedies alive in the minds of the people. Soon after the devastating Neemtoli fire that claimed 126 lives in June 2010, the government took up four projects to relocate chemical, plastic, printing, and electronic industries from old Dhaka. But none of the projects has been completed in 11 years, mostly because of bureaucratic tangles and complications related to land acquisition.
The Dhaka South City Corporation stopped issuing new licences or renewing the old ones for chemical businesses in Old Dhaka. But this appears to have had little effect on relocation on chemical business houses. The chemicals traders say they can’t leave the area unless the government gives them suitable relocation. The construction of a Chemical Industrial Park in Sirajdikhan, Munshiganj by the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation has made only 30 per cent progress so far, it is learnt. The project, drafted in 2011 and revised later, was supposed to be implemented on 50 acres of land at a cost of Tk 201.80 crore. Under the project, 308.33 acres of land was to be acquired, but officials failed to acquire the land for a number of causes. Around 30 to 32 per cent of the work has so far been completed. The progress of work of BSCIC’s Plastic Industry Estate Project has also been very slow due to land acquisition problems. Some 300 plastic factories could be relocated from the old town on 50 acres of land under the project if implemented.
The government in August 2019 approved a Chemical Warehouse Project in Tongi to relocate 55 warehouses on six acres of land. Seven one-storey warehouses that were to be built under its first phase have not been completed yet. Physical work on a Godown for Temporarily Facilitating Chemicals Storage in the capital’s Shyampur is progressing slowly. Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation is implementing the Tk 77.89 crore project on 6.17 acres of land. The project is scheduled to be completed by June this year. As storage or use of flammable substances used in factories in residential areas is restricted, a task force snapped utility services of many warehouse and factories in the old town. But the task of suitably relocating those still remains to be done.
As relocation of the chemical warehouses is taking time, why the administration is failing to ensure the adoption of adequate fire safety measures at those. The Fire Service and Civil Defence Directorate could assist the administration to list the strictest measures that must be taken to prevent fire incidents in the warehouses. After the measures are identified the administration should ensure their compliance through regular inspections. The ultimate solution lies in removing those from residential areas.
