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On the night of February 26 this year, a terrible fire broke out in a neighborhood near the CRP in Vasantek in the capital. Hundreds of houses were burned and two children died when they fell into the canal. The slum built on government land is known as ‘Jahangir’ and ‘Abul’s slum’. After 9 months, I went yesterday and saw that the neighborhood is almost extinct. Signs with the name of an organization have been placed on the walls in many places, including the burned part.
Residents evicted by the fire said the company had vacated the neighborhood “with fire” by allocating six bighas of land and occupying 20 bighas of land. Those left defenseless after the fire were evicted on a three-day notice two months ago.
There have been several reports of frequent fires in the capital’s slums. During the dry and winter seasons, fires break out in the slums every year. At the beginning of the season, fires broke out in the Sattala slums of Mohakhali, Biharipatti on Mohammadpur Babar Road and in the Baunia Dam slums near the Kalshi bus stop in Mirpur for 28 hours since Monday evening. until midnight on Tuesday.
After the fire, the size of the large slums is seen to get smaller as the houses get smaller. Subsequently, eviction activities were also carried out. According to the slum dwellers, the slums were burned down due to various reasons, including occupation by local influencers, disputes, and extortion. The eviction campaign by government authorities also continued. The fire caused a catastrophe in the lives of the poorest people. There were also deaths. Although allegations of arson have been repeatedly raised, the investigation has found no evidence.
Various agencies, including the police, said they had received complaints in each case. Although there were 953 slum fires in the three years from 2016 to 2019, the police did not file a charge sheet in any of them. So no one could be blamed. Analysts say the slums have been repeatedly burned for eviction and occupation, but the cause is not being investigated. Since these fires are damaging the country’s economy, an inhumane situation is being created.
Urban Expert Professor. Nazrul Islam said: “Slums are generally built on abandoned government or privately owned land. Many times landowners set the slums on fire to vacate the land. Such incidents have happened before. Therefore, the cause of the fire must be determined by investigating the person concerned, including the municipal corporation and the police. In addition, local government institutions, that is, city corporations, must come forward to help the victims.
Former Director General of the Fire Service and General of the Civil Defense Brigade (Retired) Abu Naeem. Shafiullah said: ‘There are many reasons for the fire in the slum. Previous investigations revealed that the cause of the fire was an electrical short circuit and a leak in a gas line. However, the enmity between the two parties and the question of reoccupation cannot be ruled out.
If you want to meet the Director General of the Fire Department and Brigadier General of Civil Defense. Sajjad Hossain said: “The slums are very dry (bamboo, wood) in the winter season. As a result, if there is a fire somewhere, it spreads immediately. Whenever there is a fire in the slums, there is a rumor of political fuel behind it. It is not the responsibility of the fire service to take care of it, it is the responsibility of the forces of order.
According to the fire service, 93 slums caught fire in the 10 months from January to October this year. Of these, 27 slums in Dhaka and 29 in Chittagong caught fire.
In 2019, fires broke out in 164 slums across the country, in 2017 in 525 slums, and in 2017 in 254 slums. The highest number of fires in these three years was 602 in the Chittagong slums. It happened in 98 slums of Dhaka.
Last Monday night, between 70 and 80 houses were burned in the seven-story slum of Mohakhali. Locals say there have been six fires in the past five years between the slum administration’s attempt to evict the infectious disease hospital and the court’s suspension. As a result, the number of houses has decreased and the size of the slums has been reduced. Local resident Anwar Hossain said: ‘Every house and shop in this neighborhood is illegal. Supporters of the local councilor and some leaders of the Juba League used to collect thousands of rupees from these shops and houses every month for rent, electricity and gas bills. There has been a long-standing dispute between them. For this reason, the fire has started in a planned way.
Hundreds of houses were burned in the poor neighborhood of Mirpur Baunia Dam in the middle of the night on December 26. After 11 months, fire broke out again in this slum around 2pm on Tuesday. Twelve units of the fire service came to control the fire with great effort. Mubarak Hossain, a resident of the slum, said: “A fire broke out in this neighborhood after one or two years. But the exact cause of these incidents is never known. I know that there are various groups among the local leaders and activists of the ruling party regarding the control of the slums. They have been involved in disputes over the rent of slum houses, water, gas and electricity bills at different times.
Hundreds of houses were destroyed in a devastating fire in a slum near Jahuri Mahalla on Babar Road in Mohammadpur on Tuesday. Residents of this poor neighborhood also complain of sabotage.
Residents complained of sabotage after a fire broke out in slum No. 6 next to the CRP in Vasantek on the night of February 26. The fire service formed a five-member investigative committee. However, the investigation did not find any sabotage, the sources said.
Yesterday, at the scene, it was seen that some families were removing their belongings from this neighborhood. An organization called ‘Scholars School and College’ has put up a sign saying they own the land. Sajeda Begum and Sukon, a couple, said they grew up in this poor neighborhood. Part of it caught fire in the poor neighborhood of Abul. Hundreds of houses have also been burned in the poor neighborhood of Jahangir. So many people started living in the house. However, an excavator was installed there on September 16 with a notice on September 14.
When contacted, Jahangir Hossain, who built the slum, said: ‘A part of the neighborhood has been evacuated by a planned fire. The academics then seized six badlands bighas from the government. They have now occupied around 20 bighas of land with some local leaders of the Awami League and the police administration. Scholars School and College security guards on duty gave Manager Abdul Matin the contact number for a statement. Calling that number can be found.
On October 30, two people were burned in a fire in the section 6 area of the new Kalyanpur slum. A terrible fire broke out on January 22, 2016 in the section 6 area of this poor neighborhood. Several slum dwellers said the eviction campaign to reclaim land from the “Housing and Construction Research Institute” in the locally known burned-out slum was forced to close by court order. They are looking at the fire that happened after that with suspicion.
Three fires broke out in the Jhilpar Chalantika slum of Rupnagar section 6 in Mirpur on August 17, January 24 and March 11 last year. Hundreds of houses have been burned. The perimeter of the slum has gotten smaller. Some residents say an influential clique has long controlled the neighborhood under the direction of the local administration. Some more people are desperate to take control of government places.
There were frequent disputes between the Kurmitola camp (Bihari slum) and the Raju slum over power lines. In 2014, a terrible fire broke out. Ten people from the camp lost their lives in the fire. During the eviction campaign on March 3 last year, a fire broke out in the poor neighborhood of the Karwan Bazar railway. The Karail slum in Banani has been the one that has been burned the most by fire, 16 times in the last 10 years. Burned three times in a year. Slum dwellers do not believe that these fires are due to natural causes.
The investigation committee was not sabotaged
According to sources from the fire service, the committee investigated each incident and reported it to the Ministry of the Interior through the DG of the fire service. However, the investigation did not find any evidence of sabotage. Asked by Deputy Director Debashish Vardhan, who serves on many committees, he said: “Slums start fires in slums at the beginning of the dry season due to various reasons, including lack of air. Even when we work, the slum dwellers speak out against us as government people. There are also incidents of assault. However, we work with professionalism in the safety of life and property. In many cases, information is available on problems in slums. Complaints arrive. However, these are not tested in research.
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