Business as usual at Chawkbazar

It has been six months since the devastating fire that ripped through Chawkbazar. We are silent witnesses to the lives lost and the empty promises made by authorities that things would change and chemical warehouses would not be allowed to store their ware in the residential area. Unfortunately, this is a classic case of avoiding responsibility. As the public gaze moved away from the Chawkbazar tragedy, the warehouses have returned silently. To apply salt to injury, the families of those injured or those who became casualties in the fire have not received any financial compensation from the State.

The infamous Haji Wahed Mansion, where the fire had originally started, stands like a ghost mansion. Of the thirty or so businesses that sustained damage in the fire that spread, a mere five establishments have been able to recuperate their losses and start all over again. The people who live in the neighbourhood of Haji Wahed Mansion continue to live in fear of their lives because the danger remains omnipresent. We would like to know why authorities refuse to take action against the hundreds of warehouses storing flammable material which continue to operate in the area with impunity.

While local community pressure has desisted the infamous Haji Wahed Mansion from opening shop again, precisely what is to stop yet another disaster to strike again in Chawkbazar, or, Mitford, Armanitola, Kayettuili, Agamasi Lane, Islambagh, Bongshal, and other areas—which are "residential" and yet are used for the storage of chemicals to make body spray and cigarette lighters? The first major fire claimed 124 lives in Old Dhaka's Nimtoli area. The Chawkbazar incident took another 70 or so lives and yet nothing changes. No relocation for chemical warehouses and no compensation for families who lost loved ones, because it appears that making profits is more important than safeguarding people's lives!