Another fire, another avoidable tragedy
Slums are increasingly a dangerous place to live in, going by the incidents of fire in recent years, not that life is any easier for the residents when there is not a fire to devour all they have. In Mirpur, there have been at least two incidents since mid-August, the first at Chalantika, which burned more than a thousand shanties to ashes, and the latest at Baunia, on Friday. The Baunia fire, apparently caused by an electric short circuit, gutted 87 homes and 17 shops, and left at least 350 people homeless. Slums in Mirpur, a densely populated neighbourhood at the heart of the capital, have often seen such fires along with other safety hazards. But beyond the band-aids and perfunctory lip service to housing development that follow every incident, there has been little effort to address the core problems.
Stories of the Baunia fire victims that emerged afterwards are heart-breaking. Many of them have taken shelter in the compound of a nearby school, their condition exacerbated by the freezing temperatures. They not only lost their homes and other belongings, but also what little they had saved up, meaning they will have to start from the ground up. Almost everyone interviewed by The Daily Star said they had migrated to Dhaka in the past few years. It bears repeating that these slum-dwellers, who form a growing majority of domestic migrants flocking to Dhaka every year, are often exploited and made to live in unsafe conditions while government officials look the other way—except, of course, when there is a fire. The government must address these self-perpetuating issues instead of going for piecemeal solutions. The Baunia fire victims should also be rehabilitated properly and quickly, so that they can start their life again.
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