Though promises were made to remove chemical factories from old part of the city, no visible step has been taken as yet. For a long time, licence giving to chemical factories in the area was suspended.
City corporation sources say that on Feb 12 last, a meeting featuring DSCC, home ministry, fire service, explosives department, environment department and FBCCI was held and a decision was taken to award licence to factories that do not store flammable materials and seal those which are found to house hazardous materials.
But in the drive, no illegal factory was closed down; instead, licence of five new organisations was renewed.
Locals say that there is huge demand for chemicals to produce plastic, cloths and car parts, which have led to the development of factories in old Dhaka.
These factories do not have approval from the fire service or the city corporation.
After the Jun 3, 2010, Nimtali fire, which killed 124 people, there was widespread discussion to remove the factories and a decision was taken to take the factories to Keraniganj.
With the latest incident, the world has seen how perilous the trade of chemicals can be.
General Secretary of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, Adil Muhammad Khan, told Bangla Tribune, “If the government wants, relocation is not an issue at all because as per law, there cannot be a trade of flammable materials in a residential area.”
DSCC’s chief revenue official, Yusuf Ali Sardar says, “After the Nimtali tragedy, orders came from the PM’s office to remove chemical factories and in 2013, decision was taken to suspend the renewal of all sorts of trade licences.”
As a result, 1900 factories were not given licence though five had their licences renewed.
DSCC mayor, Sayeed Khokon, says, “We have been warning about chemicals for a long time and also carried out a drive recently with mobile courts.”
Thousands of homes store chemicals and it’s simply not possible to monitor all storing places, added the mayor.
These factories were supposed to be transferred to Keraniganj but a legal case over the land has been resolved recently, he added.
