Still at homes, taking lives

An explosion at a chemical warehouse in Nimtali, Old Dhaka, on June 3, 2010 claimed 124 lives. Many were injured. There was also extensive damage to property. A fire turned into an inferno due to chemicals. But even after a decade of this incident, these warehouses have not moved from the residential area.

The chemical warehouses are yet to be shifted from residential areas, though, ten years ago, the government promised for that. Two more tragedies have already taken place for that failure.

On February 20, 2019, 71 people died in a terrible fire in Churihatta, Old Dhaka. Once again there were calls to remove the warehouse. Initiatives were taken to form a permanent chemical palli (village). But in two years, there is no progress. Even the initiative to build temporary warehouses before setting up a chemical palli is yet been completed.

Meanwhile, a fire broke out in a chemical warehouse at a residential building at Armanitola in Narayanganj around 3:15am on Friday. It took 3 hours for 19 fire-fighting units to douse the fire in the warehouse packed with essentially explosives (chemicals). Four lives have been claimed and at least 21 were injured. Some of the burn victims are at critical state and being treated in the ICUs.

The injured were admitted to Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute. Its coordinator Dr. Samontolal Sen said none of the burn victims were out of danger. Among the injured is a newlywed couple, who were put on life support.

The death toll in similar accidents is growing day by day. The question is, how much longer do you have to wait to get an chemical warehouse-free old Dhaka? When will the chemical factories shift from the heart of the capital? 

Actual status of the project

After the Nimtali tragedy in June 2010, a separate rural construction site was set up in Keraniganj to relocate the chemical warehouses. Eight years later, on October 30, 2016, a project called ‘BSCIC Chemical Palli, Dhaka’ was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC). But it did not see the light. Later in 2019, another tragedy unfolded in Churihatta killing 71 people. Everyone's attention shifted again but eventually the warehouses did not. The decision to set up a chemical palli in Keraniganj was canceled and the new place was Sirajdikhan in Munshiganj.

The project was also revised after the Churihatta tragedy. Initially, the project was supposed to be completed by June 2021. Later the time was extended to June 2022. Not only did the time increase, the name was changed to 'BSCIC Chemical Industrial Park, Munshiganj'. The cost of the project has also increased eight times. Initially, the cost of the project was estimated at Tk 201.81 crore. After the amendment, the cost of this project has been increased five times and it has been fixed at Tk 1,615.73 crore.

Though it was supposed to be built on 50 acres of land in Dhaka's Keraniganj, 2,154 industrial plots are to be set up on a total of 310 acres of land in three mouzas of Goalia, Chitrakot and Kamarkanda adjacent to Tulshikhali Bridge in Sirajdikhan upazila of Munshiganj.

According to the Ministry of Industries and Planning, two years went by in the effort of the land acquisition. Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), the project implementing agency, has not yet been able to make the land and infrastructure suitable for construction.

Till December, the project had cost around Tk 540 crore. Implementation is only 33 percent. Even in the current financial year, only Tk 62 crore was allocated for the project. In the revised ADP it was further reduced to Tk 23.64 crore as it was considered less important. Only one year is remaining to finish the job. But within this time work worth Tk 1000 crore still remains. Infrastructure construction including soil filling has to be completed. But according to the first plan, it was supposed to end next June. The people concerned think that it will take another two years to complete the work of the project.

Temporary warehouse

In an emergency meeting at the Ministry of Industries in June 2019, it was decided that the chemical factory would be temporarily taken to the Ujala Match Factory in Shampur, Dhaka before Munshiganj was ready. Within six months traders were supposed to be allocated space for relocation. But not a single chemical factory has moved in two years. 

"I visited the project area last February as IMD secretary," said Pradeep Ranjan Chakraborty, head of the Home Ministry-led inquiry committee into the Churihatta fire and now secretary of the Planning Commission's implementation, evaluation and monitoring department (IMD). So far only land has been acquired there. At the end of the inspection, IMD also gave a report with recommendations on what to do. It has also been sent to those concerned. 

He further said, "We have made several recommendations including investigation into the Churihatta incident and immediate removal of the old Dhaka warehouses." 

It is up to the Ministry of Industry to look into the next activities or implement the recommendations. They will be able to say better, how much they have done, he added.

However, the industry secretary KM Ali Azam and BSCIC Chairman Mushtaq Hasan could not be reached over his cellphone despite several attempts. 

The investigation committee formed by the fire service after the Churihatta tragedy made several recommendations. These recommendations have not been implemented. Debashish Vardhan, deputy director of the fire service (Dhaka division), who heads the committee, said, "The chemical godowns need to be removed from old Dhaka as soon as possible."

“Unless the chemical factories are shifted more tragedies are likely like the one today (Friday),” he said after the Armanitola fire.

“Therefore, it is necessary to take initiative to remove the chemical warehouses in a coordinated manner before any more lives are lost. We made about 16 recommendations. But I have not heard that any of them have been implemented,” he said.

Residents of Old Dhaka said that there are chemical warehouses on the ground floor or underground of almost all the houses there. Chemicals are not stored in these warehouses following proper procedures. Small accidents often happen. They don't even come to the fore. As a result, they are always in panic. Homeowners are renting warehouses just to get more rent even after knowing it is risky. As a result, the number of chemical warehouses and risky factories in residential buildings is increasing. 

However, residents want the chemical warehouses to be quickly relocated from residential areas, as they are essentially sitting on ticking time bombs.