The 12-hour blaze that engulfed Chawkbazar markets is yet another horrific reminder of Dhaka’s woeful preparedness for fires, especially congested areas such as Old Dhaka.
Once again, firefighters battled not just flames, but choked alleys, absence of nearby water sources, and warehouses packed with volatile plastics and chemicals.
At this stage, the tragedy no longer lies in the unpredictability of the blaze, but in its utter inevitability.
For years now, investigation committees have churned out expert recommendations to secure Old Dhaka -- clear, actionable mandates. From relocating an estimated 25,000 hazardous chemical units to designated industrial estates to enforcing building safety codes to installing street-level fire hydrants to unblocking emergency exits to increasing general awareness among the citizens.
Yet, these lifesaving measures remain almost entirely ignored, gathering dust while municipal authorities default to bureaucratic inertia.
This persistent negligence is a national shame. Short-term eviction drives launched after major tragedies are routinely suspended and abandoned under pressure from business syndicates, while long-promised chemical industrial zones languish in administrative limbo.
Allowing these unlicensed, highly flammable stockpiles to exist side-by-side with sleeping families is a criminal gamble with human lives, and how we continue to normalize this defies belief.
There is no reason for the present government to allow such callous inertia. We must break this fatal cycle of post-disaster posturing and long-term inaction.
Pledges and sympathy visits to fire sites will not extinguish chemical fires. What is urgently required is an unyielding, zero-tolerance enforcement campaign, and holding those accountable for endangering lives for the sake of profit. Enough is enough.