Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh has said even though Bangabazar was declared unsafe four years ago, the DSCC could not take any action due to the owners of the area resisting them.
He said this at a press conference at Nagar Bhaban in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon, hours after a massive fire at the market.
The mayor said: “Bangabazar market was declared risky by the city corporation in 2019, and so an initiative to construct a new building was taken. However, at that time the market association filed a writ in the High Court seeking a stay on the construction of the new building and the High Court granted the stay. The city corporation's hands were tied.”
State Minister for Relief and Disaster Management Md Enamur Rahman said 5,000 small traders were affected by the fire and that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself is monitoring the incident.
Brigadier General Md Main Uddin, director general (DG) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, told the media after the fire was brought under control: “On April 2, 2019, we declared this building extremely dangerous and hung a banner. After that we gave notices 10 times. We did everything we could, but business was going on here.”