‘Abandoned’ but still in use

The fire that gutted Mohammadpur Krishi Market early Thursday was categorised as a risky establishment by the fire service department.

The fire department said they repeatedly sent notices to around 200 shopkeepers in the market to enhance their fire safety measures.

But Thursday's fire showed that nothing had changed. The shop owners didn't comply with the notices and the fire department did nothing to avert risks. 

Urban planners have questioned the purpose of such notices if they are not complied with.

Contacted, Lt Col Md Tajul Islam, Director (Operation) of the Fire Service & Civil Defence, said, "We gave them (shopkeepers) several notices to take fire safety measures, but they didn't comply."

A probe body has been formed to find out the cause of the fire. It will be known after the probe report comes out, he said.

The fire service official, however, couldn't rule out more fire incidents like that of the Krishi market in the future.

"Not only this market, but most of the markets in Dhaka city are at risk of fire," he added.

Interestingly, the Krishi Market was not among the nine risky kitchen markets in a list published by Dhaka North City Corporation in 2020.

When asked, a DNCC source requesting anonymity said that the DNCC list was about whether the market buildings' structures were vulnerable, not about fire threats.

"It's the Fire Service that lists and monitors potential fire accidents," he explained.

Despite three years since the list was made, the nine risky kitchen market buildings remain unchanged, still vulnerable and awaiting a disaster.

Urban planners said the incident at Krishi Market underscores the pressing need for improved oversight and disaster prevention measures by both the DNCC and the Fire Service.

With disasters in Bangabazar and New Super Market earlier this year, they have questioned the effectiveness of these agencies in safeguarding such public places.

Buildings Identified, Yet Neglected

The Local Government Division formed a committee on 13 May 2013, to make a list of DNCC resources which are either lying useless or in a dilapidated state.

In a 2018 meeting, the committee proposed DNCC to declare nine of its kitchet market buildings 'abandoned' citing potential accident risks as they were in a dilapidated state.

Then in 2020, Mohammadpur Town Hall Pucca Market, Mohammadpur Kitchen Market, Gulshan North Kitchen Market, Gulshan South Pucca Market and Rayerbazar Market. Kawran Bazar Kitchen Market, Kawran Bazar Number-1 Bhaban Market, Kawran Bazar Number-2 Bhaban Market and Kawran Bazar Wholesale Godown Market were declared abandoned.

Most of the markets are far from 'abandoned' and currently operational with thousands frequent those daily, raising questions about DNCC's relocation and monitoring efforts.

In an effort to relocate the Karwan Bazar kitchen market, 300 wholesalers have agreed to relocate their shops to the proposed Amin Bazar and Jatrabari wholesale markets after extensive discussions with a DNCC body.

However, the retailers are still reluctant to do so. Some traders have claimed that the newly constructed markets at Jatrabari and Amin Bazar wouldn't be business-friendly and expressed concerns over the size of their shops.

A similar situation was also observed at the Rayerbazar Market.

Contacted, Selim Reza, chief executive officer of the DNCC, said, "We are trying our best to demolish the risky markets. But we face a lot of resistance from the traders in this regard."

Adil Mohammed Khan, an urban planner and professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Jahangirnagar University, said, "Once the city corporation labels a building as risky, it should be evacuated and demolished immediately. If they don't, we'll have more market accidents in the future."