DCC market had no fire-fighting tool

Dhaka City Corporation Market in the capital's Gulshan-1 had no fire-fighting equipment that could have helped reduce the damage done by yesterday's fire. Its condition was hazardous too.  

Despite warnings by the fire department and Buet experts, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and the market authorities did not retrofit the building, nor did they install any fire-fighting equipment.

"We repeatedly asked the market authorities to keep fire-fighting equipment like extinguisher, but they did not bother to do anything regarding the safety matter," said Mohammad Shahin, a wire house inspector of Fire Service and Civil Defence.

The equipment not only helps fight a fire initially but also prevent it from spreading further, he added.

Following the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse, a team of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) identified some portions of the market as faulty and suggested retrofitting it upon a detailed analysis. 

DNCC was supposed to carry out the task.

Many residents of Gulshan area who visited the popular market held DNCC, fire department and market authorities responsible for the fire and the loss inflicted by it.

The market was always claustrophobic without cross ventilation, Anis Gofran said. Abnormal heat used to generate inside it for lack of air circulation.

"Had the fire incident happened during day time casualties would have been huge because of its large number of regular customers," Anis said.

DNCC Market Beboshaye Samity Joint Secretary Akhtaruzzaman claimed they had some extinguishers and seven security people.

The two-storey market had 543 shops built in the 1960s. In 2006, the then Dhaka City Corporation took steps to construct a 20-storey city trade centre on seven-bigha plot demolishing the market.

DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq said the city corporation could not control the market even if it wanted as there are many associations of owners and they are powerful.

"It is not easy to handle that."

LEGAL COMPLICATION

There persists a long-time legal dispute between the city corporation and shop owners, which began in 2006 after the then city corporation, without involving the shop owners, went for a deal with Amin Association Overseas Ltd for constructing a multi-storey trade centre.

The traders and owners of the market filed several cases against the move at the time and the legal battle is still on.

The existing market and the vast car parking space in front are earmarked in the layout of Gulshan Model Town. But the project would have taken up the entire open space for the trade centre.

Amin Association was supposed to implement the project but failed to even start the work due to legal complication.

The 20-storey City Trade Centre was supposed to be built on a seven-bigha plot occupied by the DCC Market and its car park. There was supposed to be a three-layer underground car park at the site.

Amin Association would get 73 percent ownership of the total saleable area, according to the agreement made with the then DCC in 2006, which was then revised to 67 percent in 2010, said an official of DNCC.

However, the city corporation failed to hand over the land to Amin Association.

Market Beboshaye Samity leader Akhtaruzzaman said the shop owners had filed two cases against the move as they demanded an assurance of getting back their shops.

The authority didn't sit with them before going for the tender to construct the trade centre, which was why they filed the cases, he said, adding that five lakh people were involved with the market and they were ignored.

In a recent meeting with DNCC, the shop owners demanded shops and compensation during the construction period. DNCC did not sit with them later, Akhtaruzzaman said.

Against the backdrop, Sher Mohammad, president of DNCC Kacha Market Businessmen's Association, said, “We are sure that this [the fire] was an act of sabotage.”

Mayor Annisul termed the deal "unequal and against public interest."

"We will scrutinise the deal to revise it," he told The Daily Star.