Dife, responsible for ensuring safe working conditions and bringing order in the factories and industrial units in Chittagong division, is designed to man with 12 inspectors.

Of the 12 posts, five have been lying vacant for long. They are supposed to work in three categories - general, safety (engineering) and medical.

The Chittagong divisional office is now left with only two inspectors to deal with the safety standard and compliance issues of 4809 factories and industrial units in the port city. Of them, 667 are garments factories.

The post of Deputy Chief Inspector of Factory is lying vacant since January. MA Samad, one of the two assistant chief inspectors, now takes care of the post in addition to his work.

One of the three posts of factory inspectors (engineering) for taking care of the safety compliances has been vacant for over two years.

An assistant inspector (engineering) is on leave as he is ill, sources said.

Two posts of factory inspector and assistant inspector (medical) have been lying vacant for three years and over a year respectively, sources said.

One of the three posts of factory inspectors (general), responsible for looking into violation of laws relating to factories, workers' wages, and licence of factories, has also been lying vacant for long, they said.

The poor state of the Dife came to light after the country's worst-ever factory fire left over 50 garments workers burnt alive and injured over 100 at KTS Composite Textile Mills at Kalurghat BSCIC industrial area in the city on February 23.

Dife Deputy Chief Inspector (acting) MA Samad said the factory developed two staircases up to the first floor and only one of them led to the third floor.

"We issued a letter to the mill authorities on February 10 asking them to develop two stair cases up to third floor of the building, which obtained a licence as a two storied one," he said.

"We also asked them to report us within 15 days in this regard and the accident occurred just before expiry of the given time," he said.

"The staircases, however, were sufficiently wide and causalities could have been far more minimised or almost to zero if both the gates were kept open or if they were not narrowed down by the stockpiled products and machineries installed in a most unplanned and congested way," he said.

Samad said the high casualty at KTS could have been averted through keeping the factory under constant monitoring and inspection.

"But, we could not do that with such a poor man power," he added.

Besides, two factory inspectors (engineering) at present are engaged in an UNDP funded project, he said.

The project is being implemented by the government with the technical assistance of International Labour Organisation (ILO) for the development of safety standard and friendly working environment in ship breaking industry, he said.

On the other hand, Fire Service and Civil Defence the authority to provide clearance for workshop warehouse licence after inspecting measures to combat fire in a factory, also lacks manpower.

Rashedul Islam Majumder, Fire Service Deputy Director of Chittagong region, said they have only three inspectors to see measures of a factory for fire fighting.

With this manpower it is impossible to conduct proper inspection in some 5,000 factories and industrial units in Chittagong, he said.