Booming Bangabazar turns to ashes as fire safety ignored

When closing the shop after evening sales on the 11th day of Ramadan on Monday, none of the two brothers – Md Bilu and Md Selim – could imagine what a day was waiting for them. Early next morning, they woke up to the devastating news that their shop, stocked with apparels for Eid sales, was on fire.

They looked on helplessly as their shop burnt along with several thousand others, turning the Eid sales dreams of the sellers of Bangabazar hawkers market to ashes before firefighters could bring the fire under control after more than six hours.

Fire is not new for this market with roughly 3,500 small dress shops densely packed in make-shift structures.

It has been a disaster waiting to happen for decades since the market came into being and kept growing at the place just across the road from the headquarters of fire service and police, within a hundred metres from the Dhaka South City Corporation headquarters and not far from another city authority, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).

It emerged from a devastating fire in 1995 that also destroyed all its shops followed by several smaller fire incidents, the latest one in 2018.

Fire safety compliances were emphasised every time only to be forgotten, leading to the same old story repeated and making small traders pay for carelessness. As the economy grows, the business volume in the hawkers' market has also grown bigger. Though yet to be assessed, the losses this time would be way bigger than those in 1995.

But it appears no lesson is learnt, as lamented by the fire service chief and also echoed by the Dhaka South mayor.   

The result was a much tougher fight than the previous one, requiring the fire service more than six hours to bring the fire under control, engaging all its units in the city joined by the armed forces and other forces.

A compliance failure, who is to blame?

Tuesday's fire once again laid bare the inadequacy or absence of any fire-safety procedure and equipment.

A simple review of several such incidents also reveals the indifference of the authorities to enforce compliance.

Now, it is the devastated small traders who are to take the blame as authorities are pointing fingers at their negligence.

No one agency was willing to take responsibility for the fire in the. The south city corporation says that despite repeated notices, the shops could not be removed and instead the traders filed a writ petition with the High Court to stop the move. 

Rajuk says it is not responsible for the incident as the buildings in the market and the surrounding markets were built by the city corporation itself.

The fire service says it has issued warnings more than 10 times in the last six years but no agency has taken action.

The city corporation says it did not build this market, rather the businessmen themselves constructed the buildings.

But the Dhaka South could not come up with any answer to the question why it did not enforce safety measures.

The fire service had declared the gutted Bangabazar apparel market "risky" on 1 April 2019, said Brig Gen Md Main Uddin, director general (DG) of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence.

"We even hung a warning banner following the declaration," he said while briefing media at the fire service headquarters in Bangabazar after the raging inferno was tamed.

He said the market authority was served with official notice at least ten times.

The banner, hung by the fire service on the market, urges everyone to exercise caution about the "highly risky" structure in terms of fire safety.

In 1995, Bangabazar was burnt to ashes in a similar fire. 

Later that year, the Dhaka City Corporation rebuilt the market. On 24 July 2018, several shops of Bangabazar Complex (Gulistan Unit) were burnt.

Fire service officials said they served such warning notices several times since 2017 and repeated those after a fire in 2018.

When asked why the business had not stopped despite having given 10 notices, the fire service DG stated, "I don't have an answer to this question. You should rather ask them."

Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh blamed the traders, saying they were repeatedly warned of the risks of running businesses there.

"The market was marked risky in 2019. But we could not stop the traders from running business there even after serving them letters several times," the mayor said at a press conference at the city corporation building. 

Expressing disappointment at the traders' reluctance, the mayor said, "We cannot do the job by force. It is also their responsibility to be mindful of the risk."

Rajuk Member (Development) Major (retd) Engineer Samsuddin Ahmad Chowdhury told The Business Standard that the market was built by Dhaka South City Corporation and it was completely under their supervision. 

"There was no coordination with Rajuk. And the city corporation can build according to their plans if they want. They are allowed to do so," he added.

Md Russell Sabrin, chief property officer of Dhaka South City Corporation, told TBS, "In 2019, our revenue department instructed traders to remove the shops and a project was taken to construct a multi-storey building in that place. Then the businessmen filed a writ petition with the High Court and stopped our work. Because of the writ, our activities are still on hold."

In response to the question that the city corporation could not evacuate the shops but could have taken measures to deal with the disaster in this market and why it was not taken, he said, "After the ban of the High Court in 2019, we could not carry out any activities there. So no action could be taken."

Akter Mahmud, Jahangirnagar University's Urban and Regional Planning Department professor and former president of Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), told TBS that Bangbazar's fire incident happened in spite of all regulatory institutions. The fire service, city corporation, Rajuk and other organisations cannot avoid their responsibilities. After the fire in 1995, there was a need to manage the area in a planned manner but despite repeated problems, it was not resolved.

"Serving notice is not enough. A city cannot be built with so many discrepancies. We see problems wherever we look. This requires proper management. The problem cannot be solved by eviction or demolition alone." 

Since Bangabazar is one of the commercial centres, disaster preparedness was definitely needed here. Measures that could have been taken, including fire hydrants, adequate space on roads, could have been taken by the city corporation but were not, he added.

The urban planner also said that in this incident, just as there is institutional responsibility, users also are responsible. 

"However, the main responsibility should be taken by the institutions including the city corporation and Rajuk. Therefore, measures should be taken from now on with other risky areas of Dhaka," he continued.
 
Relocation pledge, as usual

After such incidents, authorities come up with pledges of relocation and compensation. A number of hawkers' markets have been built so far, but very few hawkers were accommodated.

Mayor Taposh had the similar pledge for traders this time too.

He also noted that a hearing on a writ regarding the traders' relocation is pending with the High Court. 

Those who incurred losses in the massive fire will be relocated, the mayor said.

State Minister for Relief and Disaster Management Md Enamur Rahman said that about six markets in Bangabazar were damaged by the fire. "So far we have come to know that about 5,000 small traders have been affected."

Meanwhile, Dhaka South City Corporation has formed an eight-member committee to identify the victims of the fire and assess the damage.

The committee will complete its task within the next three days.
 
How difficult was the firefighting

Accessed by wide roads on three sides and originating in the traffic-free early hours, it took more than six hours for firefighters to tame the fire after midday Tuesday.

Members of the armed forces, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) joined the 47 fire service units, supported by air force helicopters, to tame the fire that also spread to at least three adjacent buildings, including the Annexco Tower, and affected a portion of the Police Headquarters. 

While firefighting units and armed forces battled a growing inferno, shop-owners and keepers crowded the road in front of the building. Many were trying to salvage whatever they could. 

Firefighters were at a disadvantage as the fire grew beyond manageable within minutes and there was not enough water from the very start.

Fire fighters couldn't enter the markets as the passages were narrow, hardly wide enough for a person to pass. 

Heavy smoke and lack of oxygen affected the firefighters and some lost consciousness. 

An agitated mob attacked the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters around 9:30am. They threw brickbats and attacked the control room leaving at least four fire service personnel injured.In the flammable fabric markets, fire spread out rapidly within minutes. 

The fire service director general identified three reasons that made their battle so tough and why it took so long to put the fire out.
Showing a video recorded on his mobile phone, the DG said firefighters struggled to work there amidst a huge crowd around the area.

"It was so crowded that firefighters were finding it difficult to follow their procedure," he said.

Main Uddin attributed the lack of water and the direction of the wind as the second and third reasons.

When asked about the attack in the fire service headquarters, he said the incident will be investigated and further action will be taken accordingly.

"All the officers and employees of the Fire Service and Civil Defence work their hearts out for people. Last year, we lost 13 firefighters while on duty and 29 were injured," he lamented, saying, "I don't understand why or who would attack the fire service."

The fire service chief further added that eight firefighters were hurt in the fire incident today among whom two critically injured firemen are undergoing treatment at Sheikh Hasina National Burn Institute.

A costly price paid 

Many traders had banked big on Eid sales to recoup from seasons of losses due to various reasons. They had invested big in hopes of healthy returns.  

But all their hopes were burnt to ashes in front of their eyes.

Devastated small traders, not covered by fire insurance and with little or no access to bank loans, do not know how long it may take to rebuild their shops this time.

One businessman was seen lamenting, "God help us if we can recover from this. If the prime minister helps us in rehabilitation only then we will be able to stand again, otherwise we are doomed."