Misery and fear grip Korail fire survivors

A month has passed since a fire broke out a huge slum in Dhaka’s Korail area, yet most slum dwellers have been unable to rebuild their homes and still live in makeshift tents and under the open sky. Residents affected by the fire claim the Dhaka North City Corporation are to compensate them for their losses while landlords are yet to repair the burnt homes. Billal, a landlord, told the Dhaka Tribune: “I could not repair my three burned houses as I have not received compensation from the city corporation.” A shopkeeper, Anwar Hossen, said: “The government has given each family only 15kg of rice, which is insufficient. Some landlords are rebuilding their homes on their own though.” Some Korail residents have hurried to reconstruct their shanties, fearing that the authorities concerned might drive them away from the area. Fires have broken out recurrently in Korail last year, on March 14 and then on December 6. The persistent fires have led residents to believe it was a premeditated arson attack to evict them from the land, as the government is reportedly mulling setting up a hi-tech park there. Slum resident Abdul Khalek alleged: “Every time a fire breaks out in the dead of night, it signifies that vested quarters are deliberately setting fire to our homes to benefit from the government. “We have nowhere to go. So we started rebuilding our homes; or else they will drive us away from the land.” The DNCC and Fire Service and Civil Defence, however, refuted the allegations and said they were working to determine the amount of damage caused by the fire. On March 16 this year, the day the fire broke out, DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq ensured proper compensation would be paid to all landlords affected by the fire so they can rebuild their homes shortly. However, the DNCC Social Welfare and Slum Development Department Chief Masudul Haq said: “We hope it will take two more weeks to present the compensation [to the Korail slum residents].” Regarding the fires that broke out in Korail in the last one year, the government has distributed Tk25,000 to each victimised family and ensured free housing for eight months. According to the Population Census 2011, around 40,700 people live in Korail. Apart from government aid, some non-government organisations also promised to provide adequate reparations to the victims, including housing, clothing and food. However, Salma, a victim, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The different types of support provided by the NGOs have been inadequate.” Korail is the largest slum in Dhaka, spread over 150 acres across Gulshan and Banani, and divided by a lake. The slum sits on prime real estate owned by Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited and has avoided several eviction attempts over the years. Meanwhile, DNCC issued a new directive to widen the internal road of the slums. Mohammad Khokon, a Korail resident, who lost his home, told the Dhaka Tribune: “On March 29, city authorities directed all landlords to rebuild their homes, keeping 12 feet for inner lanes and 16 feet for the outer lane, so that rescue operations could be easily carried out in disasters such as fires.”