How many more disastrous fires will we have to see before something is done?
While the recent fire that broke out in a plastic factory in Dhaka’s Lalbagh was brought under control fairly quickly, thanks to our diligent fire fighting unit, for such fires to become the rule and not be the exception is a worrying prospect
Bangladesh’s development over the last decade has been rapid, but one of the more unfortunate realities of our development is the fact that it most of it is concentrated in our capital city, leading businesses and factories of all stripes being established in this one small city, which in turn means factories and storage units being closely packed in proximity.
To say that Dhaka is a veritable tinderbox would be an understatement.
A good first step in bypassing factory fires would be to have them relocated away from the capital and ensure that they follow strict fire safety protocols. Of course, fires are hardly the exclusive domain of factories in Dhaka.
Too many of our fires are the result of buildings not following proper code, whether in terms of fire safety or, more commonly, electrical wiring. The 2019 case of FR Tower, in the capital’s Banani area, going up in flames was the result of the building owners cutting every corner conceivable in following building code -- the 23-storey building became a death trap when a fire broke out and engulfed the entire structure on Thursday afternoon, killing 25 people and injuring over 70 others.
In a city like Dhaka, one that is undergoing rapid industrialization and urbanization, the need for fire safety increases alongside its progress. We cannot risk the administration looking the other way when it comes to fire safety anymore.
