Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has cut off power to eight factories in the residential areas of Old Dhaka’s Shahid Nagar and Boubazar.
A DSCC task force led the raid on Saturday (Mar 2) afternoon.
“We found highly flammable substances in those factories. Hence we are cutting off power services there,” said DSCC Executive Magistrate Suborna Shireen.
She added that the factory owners were given notice beforehand but they didn’t pay heed.
“We have asked them to remove the factories. Otherwise, legal actions will be taken.”
A survey of the area showed that the ground floors of the buildings in the area have been rented out to factories manufacturing shoes and water bottles. Several risky chemicals were seen scattered about there.
One Amirul Islam took power connection to a building in Shahid Nagar saying that it was residential purposes. Instead, he built a water bottle factory there.
“We manufacture large water bottles here. Our factory has a permit,” factory manager Wasi Ahmed told Bangla Tribune.
However, he was unable to provide any documents and their power services were cut off.
The DSCC task force ordered the Explosives Department to sever the power lines of a building where a factory manufacturing shoe soles from melted plastic was discovered. The team found spirit there, flammable substance.
The team discovered a significant amount of flammable of substances in another factory manufacturing plastic fibre ropes.
The crackdown on chemical warehouses and factories began after the Feb 20 fire at Chawkbazar’s Churihatta intersection.
The deadly blaze gutted five buildings and killed 71 people so far, a stark reminder of the 2010 Nimtoli fire.