Gulshan fire
It is of
utmost importance to find out the actual cause of the fire through proper
investigation
Two days have passed, but the reason behind the Tuesdays fire in the capitals DCC market at Gulshan is yet to be unearthed. It is still more unfortunate that firefighters took long 18 hours to bring the fire under control with their 23 fire units despite the fact the market was a two-storey building and apparently there were sources of water around the place. Furthermore the place where the market was situated has no narrow alleys like in the neighbourhoods or marketplaces of old Dhaka and firefighters could move their vehicles very easily.
Here the point is if the fire units could control the fire much earlier a lot of damage could have been easily averted. According to a report of this newspaper, the Shop Owners Association claims property worth Tk. 4,000 crore perished in the fire in which the market building partially collapsed. The firefighters inability to tame the fire quickly at a rather easiest place at spacious Gulshan brings to the fore the question what would happen when fire will break out at congested places of old Dhaka and there is hardly water sources nearby.
Moreover, if a major natural disaster strikes the capital, scenarios of hell will break loose here and firefighters with their existing skill and equipment are hardly expected to deliver. That is why the ability of the countrys civil defence ought to be increased. This is a must and the relevant authorities ought to pay attention in this regard.
Now it is very vital to find out what actually caused the massive fire at Gulshan market. The hapless shop owners claim that it was an act of sabotage, a case of arson. It has been surfaced that for sometimes the relevant authorities have been asking the shop owners there to move their shops so that a multi-storied building could be built instead. In the backdrop of conflicting claims, it is of utmost importance to find out the actual cause of fire through proper investigation. This is also necessary to know to bolster our precaution against such incident in future.
There might be shop owners owners who have lost everything of their business by the fire. The government can positively think of taking measures to help them make a new beginning in their business.
