Helemul Alam

Just 11 days after a blaze ripped through the Bangabazar shopping complex, another one yesterday gutted Dhaka New Super Market, causing losses to businesses and traders.

A faulty Titas Gas line might have caused the explosion at the seven-storey Café Queen building in the capital’s Siddique Bazar last month, say investigators.

The Bangabazar traders are struggling to get back on their feet after the devastating fire that burned everything in its path. The second day of reopening through makeshift arrangements has not been easy for them, with sales remaining low.

After the demolition of century-old Neelam Ghar and Jahajbari, another heritage building -- the old Railway Hospital, which was established 125 years ago -- is set to be demolished.

Several areas of Dhaka hardly getting supply for months

In every fire incident, water bodies, especially ponds, can play an important role in putting out the flames. And yet there is no proper initiative to protect ponds in Dhaka.

A six-year-old city corporation initiative to build a 10-storey shopping mall at Bangabazar never saw the light of day because of disagreements between the shop owners and the corporation.

Seventy-five-year-old Hosne Ara, a former government employee, was talking to one of her close relatives in a video call, sitting on a chair at Probin Nibash, an old-age home. A box full of chickpeas was kept next to her as the time for iftar approached.

It was a warm Wednesday evening, and the clock struck 5:15pm at the Sir Salimullah Muslim Orphanage located in Dhaka’s Azimpur. A small group of orphaned children gathered in a room of the Haji Rafique Bhaban, preparing to break their day-long fast with a mixture of iftar items called Muri Makha.

For Muslims, Ramadan is about restraint, austerity and fostering social cohesion and brotherhood among all, irrespective of wealth.

Kaspia, a sixty-year-old woman, sat under a tree on a bench next to the platform at Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka, waiting for her son to return with iftar items. She had never broken her fast in a railway station before, but keeping the traffic situation in mind, she had no choice but to come early as she had to catch a return train from Dhaka shortly after iftar.

It appears the evacuation notice handed out to 41 risky buildings by the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) on March 13 was not well-thought-out.

Rabin Bhuiyan, a 27-year-old resident of Narayanganj, arrived at the Chawkbazar iftar market around 11:00am to purchase traditional iftar items. However, the shops of the makeshift market were not set up at that time. He performed juma prayers at the ancient Chawkbazar Shahi Jame Masjid next to the bazaar with his younger brother Miraz Hossain before making their purchases.

The building that was damaged by an explosion in the capital’s Siddikbazar should not be used before it is retrofitted, as the structure is currently unsafe, suggested a probe committee of Rajuk.

The Rajdhani Unnyan Katripakkha (Rajuk) will take steps to demolish 42 buildings in Dhaka, Gazipur, and Narayanganj within a short time, as these structures are in precarious conditions and are at risk of collapsing and causing casualties.

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) is planning to conduct research from April to May to make anti-mosquito drives more effective. DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam took the decision after a recent visit to the US.

Building owners who put their basements up for commercial use, violating the approved plans, not only contribute to reduced parking spaces but also severe risks of accident.

A lack of maintenance of septic tanks and buildings, coupled with blocked ventilation ways are putting the capital’s buildings at huge risk of explosion. This newspaper yesterday reached out to multiple urban planning experts following the Gulistan explosion, who all echoed the same.

It was a Tuesday afternoon. Namima Binte Salma and Afraaz Zuhain Khan, two preschool children, were playing in a park at Lalmatia block-D. They appeared cheerful as they finally had the opportunity to take a breather out in the open, after a long time.

The government is yet to form an authority dedicated to enforce the revised Bangladesh National Building Code, the gazette of which was issued two years ago.