Frequent fire, blast incidents create sense of insecurity among people in Bangladesh

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Frequent incidents of fire and explosion in different urban areas, including the capital Dhaka, have created a sense of insecurity and tension among the people of Bangladesh.

“The situation has turned so critical that we are scared whenever we go out of home for any work and always remain in tension about the safety of our family members,” Mohammad Abdul Awal told Anadolu, who was standing in front of a ward in the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where his cousin is under treatment.

He was one of over 100 people injured in last week's deadly building explosion in Dhaka's central Gulistan neighborhood, which also claimed 23 lives.

Dozens of such devastating fires and explosions have claimed hundreds of lives and damaged infrastructures in the megacity of Dhaka, the port city of Chattogram, and other industrial urban zones in the last few years, according to official records and available media reports.

Awal said his cousin is a small fruit trader who works in Munshiganj on the city's southern outskirts and had come to Gulistan for business but was unfortunately injured in the explosion.

So far, there is no concrete answer to what caused the massive blast because investigations are still ongoing, but apparently, damage to the gas pipeline and leakage in the building is the suspected cause, as in previous incidents.

A senior official of the Rapid Action Battalion, or RAB, told Anadolu that "damages to the wall are normal in any gas explosion," referring to the heavy damage to some concrete pillars of the building in the Gulistan blast.

Major Md. Moshiour Rahman, deputy director of RAB's Bomb Disposal Unit, told Anadolu that many areas of Dhaka have become a concrete jungle, making disaster investigations difficult.

The official said the time has come to develop a long-term strategy for urbanization in order to avoid man-made disasters.

According to some experts, the rapid and unplanned urbanization, as well as the mad rush of people to urban areas for work, has resulted in an alarming increase in the number of fires, explosions, and building collapses, particularly in and around Dhaka.

"Though it's a matter of policymakers as per my long professional experience, I can firmly say there must be planning to safe residents of Dhaka and other big cities,” Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, director of operation and maintenance with the Fire Service and Civil Defense Directorate, told Anadolu.

He noted that many high-rise buildings have already been built and that many more are being constructed without adequate road space or construction rules.

All sensitive gas and other service pipelines have passed through a congested environment with a high risk of being exploited at any time.

"Whenever we rush to any fire site with our units and facilities, we very often fail to arrive on time due to narrow roads, illegal car parking, and illegal floating shops on the roads," Chowdhury said.

- Lack of accountability

"One of our major problems is that we don't go through the root causes of any disaster and blame each other without ensuring accountability of every individual," Akter Mahmud, a professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, told Anadolu.

He added that initiatives from government institutes and private owners are very important in reducing the risks of fire, explosion, or other disasters in any city, particularly any overcrowded mega-city like Dhaka.

"Different service agencies, such as the Water and Sewerage Authority, Dhaka Power Distribution Company, and Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, should check their service pipelines on a regular basis," Mahmud suggested.

Owners of all buildings, including high-rise ones, must check all gas and electricity lines at their structures on a regular basis, he said, adding that "if government regulations are violated by any individuals or any service institute, action should be taken."

"The culture of impunity must end," he said.

"For example, if you go to the Capital Development Authority in case of an accident, they categorically say the building was not developed according to the regulations," he said, emphasizing a common scenario of institutional weaknesses.

"But I ask, who permitted builders to construct a seven-story building against the approval of a five-story building?" he said, adding, "Why did the authority not check when it was being constructed?"

So, both service institutes and individual private owners must be held accountable, and there is no alternative to raising public awareness, the professor noted.