Market fire: Don’t start a blame game, ensure safety instead

All the shops in Dhaka’s Bangabazar market were burnt to ashes in the first week of April.  On the 11th day of that incident around 250 shops across three floors of New Super Market were incinerated in a fire.

It was presumed to be the last fire of cruel April. But, surprising everyone another fire broke out at Uttara’s BGB Market on Monday morning while not even three days have passed.

What could be the explanation behind fire breaking out at a market while the after-effect of fire at another market wasn’t over yet? Whereas the safety issue is supposed to be get utmost priority when it comes to building any market or establishments, it’s being neglected the most.

While leaders of the ruling party and opposition are engaging in unnecessary debate and blame game centering the causes of the fire, right then the fire service department is pointing out how risky are the markets of Dhaka.

The Fire Service director (operation) in a press conference last Sunday said that inspecting 58 markets in the capital during the first three months of the current year they have found all of them to be risky.

Nine of them are highly risky, 35 risky while 14 are risky to a medium level. As of 2019, the fire service department had announced 1,048 markets in Dhaka as risky; 428 of which were highly risky. Bangabazar and New Super Market which burnt down this month, were on the highly-risky list.

What’s more alarming is that no steps have been taken in the last four years to make the markets which have been labeled risky by the fire service department, risk-free.

The fire service department can only request or recommend making markets risk-free; they cannot close down any market. Although these markets or establishments are supposed to be built in accordance with the guidelines of RAJUK and City Corporation, many aren’t complying. Even the city corporation has admitted of this irregularity.

But they didn’t take any measures. There are allegations that leaders of the market committee construct establishments not included in the design, conspiring indeed with a type of dishonest city corporation officials.

The fire service department has only identified the fire risks. There are risks in the gas, power and water supply lines as well. About a month ago, faulty gas lines caused the explosion at a building in Siddikbazar. The huge amount of losses incurred by businessmen in these fires is irrecoverable.

Lifelong earnings and savings of many have been burnt to ashes. Our deepest sympathy will be with them.

At the same time the question that how they could remain indifferent even after the markets being announced highly risky, has to be asked as well.

Just as the businessmen are to be blamed for this, monitoring organisations the city corporation and RAJUK cannot avoid the responsibility either. Why weren’t any measures taken against those, who defied their guidelines?

After the fire was completely doused, other adjacent markets including New Market, Chandrima Market, Gausia and Nurjahan Market, leaving out only the affected New Super Market, were reopened on Sunday. But who will ensure that these markets are safe?

Sometimes fire starts from smoking or cylinder gas as well. In that case, the market authorities should strictly control these. The fact that a slight mistake or carelessness on someone’s part will result in massive losses cannot be accepted.

The government should take viable and effective measures to ensure safety of the markets instead of spending energy on discovering surreal causes of the fire.