The ‘BSCIC Chemical Industrial Park’ project, designed to shift the chemical factories and warehouses from Old Dhaka following the Nimtali and Churihatta fire tragedies, has its June 2022 deadline delayed for another year, bdnews24.com reports.
Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation or BSCIC said 70 per cent of the landfill work in the project has been completed and they hope to hand over the plots to the owners by June 2023.
Leaders of chemical trade organisations said they would need some time to construct buildings and complete other works after they receive the plots. Therefore, shifting the chemical factories and warehouses from Old Dhaka can only begin in 2025.
The warehouses can be shifted from Old Dhaka within a year when the BSCIC hands over the plots, said Bangladesh Chemical and Perfumery Merchant Association President Nurul Mostafa.
“They assured us of providing the plots by June 2022, but now extended the deadline to 2023. We will also need time to make the plots ready to use,” he said.
The BSCIC Chemical Industrial Park is under construction at a place beside the Dhaka Nababganj regional road, 20 km away from Dhaka’s Zero Point.
During a visit to the site on Sunday, a bdnews24.com reporter found landfill work and construction of demarcating walls was ongoing.
“We will get the plots ready and ensure power and gas connection, and then the plots will be allocated through the deputy commissioner. Anyone willing to get a plot, must apply to the deputy commissioner,” said Project Director Muhammad Hafizur Rahman.
Initially, the project was planned to be built on 50 acres of land in Keraniganj, he said. Following the deadly fire on Feb 20, 2019, in Churihatta, the Ministry of Disaster Management proposed to build the project in a larger place.
“Also, a BSCIC study done at that time showed 1,525 chemical factories and warehouses and 600 colour factories and warehouses are in use in Old Dhaka. The 50 acres of land wasn’t enough to house all of them. Therefore, BSCIC proposed an amendment to the project plan in March 2019.”
After the amended project plan was approved, the district administration began land acquisition and in December 2020, handed over the land to BSCIC. On Apr 4, 2021, the Narayanganj Dockyard was given a work order to fill the land, and they began the work on Apr 28 that year.
Hafizur Rahman said the landfilling was scheduled to be finished in January this year, but could not meet its deadline over some issues.
“Big vessels used to carry the soil for filling in land during the monsoon, but now smaller vessels are being used as the rivers dried up. That’s why the deadline has been extended,” the project director said.
The project includes a canal spread on 6 acres of land to be used as a water reservoir. Fire hydrants will be set up every 100 feet in the project area along with a fire service office. In addition to the central ETP for managing the liquid waste, an incinerator will be set up to burn solid waste.
After the tragic blaze in Old Dhaka’s Nimtali in 2010, the government took the initiative to shift chemical factories and warehouses, plastic and other factories from Old Dhaka.
An inter-ministry committee chose 20 acres of land in Keraniganj’s Sonakanda to build some 17-storied buildings to house those factories and warehouses. A DPP was also made, but the project did not advance further.
In 2018, the project ‘BSCIC Chemical Palli, Dhaka’ was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council or ECNEC on Oct 30. The Tk 2.01 billion project to be built on 50 acres of land in south Keraniganj was planned to have 936 plots.
That project was amended following the Churihatta fire in 2019 and BSCIC sent a proposal to the industries ministry on Apr 18 to construct the ‘BSCIC Industrial Park, Munshiganj’ in Sirajdikhan, Munshiganj. The project planned to be built in Kamarkhanda, Chitrakot and Goalkhali was said to have 2,154 plots in it.
The ECNEC approved the amended DPP on Apr 30, 2019, and the Ministry of Industries approved it on Jun 12. The deadline of the project, worth Tk 15.16 billion, was set for June 2022.
LIST OF CHEMICAL WAREHOUSES
As part of the initiative to shift the chemical warehouses in Old Dhaka, the Dhaka South City Corporation conducted a survey in December 2020 identifying the businesses involving explosive or flammable items, plastics and chemicals, said Mayor Fazle Noor Taposh.
“We have already submitted our recommendation and survey report to the Cabinet and the Ministry of Industries. We’re not issuing any new trade license for anyone to run plastic and chemical businesses,” he said.
Following a petition filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association or BELA, the High Court asked the government for a list of the buildings in Old Dhaka that house chemical warehouses, shops and factories on Feb 1. It ordered them to submit the list by Apr 17. Mayor Taposh also said they urged the government to shift the plastic and chemical businesses from Old Dhaka as soon as possible as they are losing revenue while the businesses are run in Old Dhaka.
According to the survey conducted by DSCC, 1,924 chemical warehouses were found in tax zones 3, 4 and 5, said DSCC Public Relation Officer Abu Naser. The list shows 1,301 warehouses in tax zone-3, 585 in zone-4 and 38 in zone-5.
Considering the type of chemical and risk level, 98 per cent of warehouses stand at moderate risk of fire accidents, 0.5 per cent at high risk and 1.5 per cent at low risk, said Abu Naser. The DSCC provided the information, including the types of chemicals, to the cabinet, he said.
PLASTIC STORED AT WAHED MANSION
Wahed Mansion, the building in Chawkbazar’s Churihatta, where the hellish blaze began on Feb 20, 2019, and claimed 71 lives, has been reopened following a renovation.
A shop of highly flammable plastic pigment was found on the ground floor of the building on Saturday. The shopkeeper, however, refused to speak to bdnews24.com.
On the first floor of the building, United Commercial Bank has opened its Churihatta branch. Another building opposite Wahed Mansion is being reconstructed.
Although Wahed Mansion was not to rent out its basement for use as a warehouse, plastic toys are already being stored there. Hundreds of cartons containing the goods are currently housed in the building.
“These are no chemicals, but there are plastic products, mainly children’s toys,” said Sumon Mia, a staff member in the shop.
Following a visit to Wahed Mansion on May 19 last year, DSCC Mayor Fazle Noor Taposh said that it could be reopened after renovation.
