Published : 23 Feb 2023, 02:49 AM
Updated : 23 Feb 2023, 02:54 AM
Several devastating blazes triggered by chemical warehouses and factories in Old Dhaka shocked Bangladesh in the past one and a half decades. The tragedies forced the government to take steps to remove the chemical warehouses and factories from the congested area.
After the deaths of 124 people in the 2010 fire fuelled by chemicals stored at a warehouse in Nimtali, the government identified a place in Keraniganj to relocate the warehouses and factories.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council or ECNEC cleared the over Tk 2 billion BSCIC Chemical Industrial Park project – in 2018.
The plan changed in April 2019 with the proposed site moved to Munshiganj. The new site was six times bigger than the previous one.
It was already too late for the victims of the Chawk Bazar inferno and their families. At least 71 people died in the blaze that engulfed a large portion of the densely populated Churihatta neighbourhood in Chawk Bazar on Feb 20, 2019. Plastics and highly flammable chemicals were again the reason behind the mammoth devastation.
The authorities conducted drives to stop landowners from letting the residential buildings used as warehouses or factories, but backed off in the face of protests by traders.
“If you check the buildings now, you’ll see warehouses and factories,” fumed Fatema Akter, who lost her husband Mohammad Faysal in the Chawk Bazar inferno.
“The landlords rent the ground floors to chemical traders for use as warehouses because the traders pay more than others. I heard these warehouses would be relocated from Dhaka, but haven’t seen any sign of that,” lamented Fatema as she visited the site on Monday, the fourth anniversary of the tragedy.
SLOW IMPLEMENTATION
After the devastating loss of lives in Churihatta nine years after the Nimtali tragedy, the authorities became active abruptly.
On Apr 30, 2019, the ECNEC approved the first revision of the BSCIC Chemical Industrial Park project on around 125.5 hectares of land with an outlay of Tk 16.16 billion in a bid to relocate the chemical industries and godowns of Old Dhaka into an environment-friendly place in Munshiganj’s Sirajdikhan.
The project received administrative approval from the Ministry of Industries on Jun 12 of that year with a plan to create 1,843 plots for the traders.
The project was extended for another two years as it could not be completed within the June 2022 deadline, Project Director Muhammad Hafizur Rahman said. On Feb 14, the Bangladesh Planning Commission extended the project to June 2024.
Hafizur blamed the company responsible for landfilling for the delay.
Narayanganj Dockyard was given a work order to fill the land in April 2021 after acquisition but only 60 percent of the job was done by June 2022, the time by which the project was scheduled to be implemented.
"We started land development in 2021 and it was difficult to complete it in a year. We fell short of money in the middle of the project. The work also stopped after missing the deadline last year. As a result, roads, drains, culverts, ETPs (Effluent treatment plants), and boundary walls could not be constructed. However, 80 percent of the soil has been filled until this month. We hope to hand over the plots by July 2024," said the project director.
Although the duration of the project has been extended, the estimated cost has been reduced to Tk 14.54 billion as the authorities decided to set up several ETPs instead of a central one, he said.
MORE TIME FOR RELOCATION
Traders have reminded that it will take more time to relocate the warehouses and factories to the project site after its completion and they are sceptical whether the authorities can meet the new deadline.
Matiur Rahman, the owner of Lucky Corporation on Armenian Street, said they moved most of their warehouses to Abdullahpur on the other side of the river Turag from where they deliver the products.
Speaking about the project in Munshiganj, he said: "The authorities will fill the land, construct roads and buildings. It will take at least another 10 years to do that.”
BSCIC gave a date many times, but could not hand over the plots, said Nurul Mostafa, the president of Bangladesh Chemical and Perfumery Merchant Association.
“I don't think we’ll get the plots before 2025. We’ll definitely shift there once we get the plots.”
It will take some more time to complete the building construction and other works even after receiving the plots, said the business leader.
"I will start constructing the building if the plot is suitable for construction after the land gets ready. It depends on who constructs what kind of building. If they (BSCIC) hand over the land in 2025, it will take a year to build the structures there.
"And just filling the land won’t do. There should be ETPs. There’s a lot of work, including utility connections and fire safety systems. I don't think they can finish it that easily."
[Writing in English by Arshi Fatiha Quazi; editing by Osham-ul-Sufian Talukder]
