The father of a Chawkbazar fire victim wailing at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Sunday while submitting a DNA sample for cross-matching to find his missing son — FE Photo by Shafiqul Alam
The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is busy with receiving growing number of complaints regarding presence of chemical warehouses from various parts of the capital following the deadly Chawkbazar fire that killed at least 67 people.
Activities of the DSCC call centre has gone up manifold from Sunday morning, several hours after DSCC Mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon asked the city dwellers to inform about the presence of chemical inventories in their localities.
The DSCC mayor, during his visit to the fire-hit Chawkbazar area on Saturday, also asked to dial the number (02-9556014) to lodge such complaints.
Talking to the FE, Jakir Hossain, a DSCC call centre operator, said people started filing complaints regarding chemical warehouses in the residential areas from Saturday night.
"From the morning, we've been receiving growing number of calls from the people, and the number keeps mounting."
The call centre has so far received a total of 18 calls in the last 24 hours until 5:30 pm, and most calls came from Old Dhaka, according to him.
The DSCC call centre also received such calls from the areas beyond its jurisdiction.
"We also received calls from Mirpur and Gulshan, which were forwarded to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) to take actions," he added.
DSCC deputy revenue officer Saidur Rahman said the corporation is now scrutinising these complaints.
"We'll take proper actions once the information is found true. We'll not allow dangerous chemical inventories in residential areas," he added.
However, the DSCC with the help of local police continued shifting chemicals from the basement of Wahed Mansion, where the fire is believed to be originated on Wednesday night.
The Lalbag Zone of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) is investigating the case, filed in connection with the tragedy.
"We are investigating the matter. We will not only arrest the two whose names have been mentioned in the case, filed over the incident, but anyone found responsible will be brought to book," DMP deputy commissioner (Lalbag Zone) Ibrahim Khan told reporters while visiting Chawkbazar area.
Pradip Ranjan Chakrabarty, additional secretary of Safety and Services Department under the Home Ministry, also visited the spot as part of the ongoing investigation over the fire.
"Sunday was the last day of investigation. We have collected information from primary and secondary sources, including eye witnesses. We are also examining the video footages released on different media."
A final report will be prepared after scrutinising or analysing all the information, he said without giving any further detail for the sake of investigation.
Meanwhile, former information minister Hasanul Haq Inu while visiting the spot said the government, administration and businesspeople cannot ignore their respective responsibilities for the disaster.
Suggesting ending the ongoing 'blame game', he called upon the government to take effective steps for shifting the chemical bases from the residential areas in phases to avoid recurrence of such event.
He also recommended speedy handover of the land, where the proposed chemical zone was supposed to be set up.
