It was yeaterday at 5:30 am on Tuesday 04 April 2023 the biggest market of Dhaka, Banga Bazar Market, has been on fire until last night. The cause of the incident is not known yet.


Dhaka is the capital city of Bangaladish, it is also 6th desely populated city in the world. This fire incident (6:10 am-12:36 pm) completely burnt more than 5,000 shops/businesses in Dhaka and dispossed more than 60,000 people mostly owners of the business shops in the market.

Fire incident statistics in Daka says, around 285,000 fire hazards occurred between 1999-2020 in urban centers, including Dhaka. What is more interesting than this is that 17,350 fire incidents occurred from 1995-2010 in Dhaka alone. You can imaging what it is like to live in this place.


The firebrigate center locates the front side of the opposite building (South side) from the Market. Eventhough, the fireworkers was in their homes and was not in the center when the fire was started, the fire brigates staff were trying to put out the fire but could not control it for 2 to 3 hours. This is because, the fire was already on its highest when they became ready to start the firefighting. Being late was the was one cause to prolong time taken for the blaze to spread.

In here, I would suggest, it is time to standup. Universities and research organizations must work with government agencies or city authorities to identify the recent types and levels of dangers in this city and take steps to fix those on a priority basis. Otherwise, this city would become the #1 worst city in the world, and people would be thrown into the "black hole of suffering."

Let me paint you a picture, my dear readers. You're a shop owner, doing your level best to turn a profit in a city where the rules seem to change every other day. You've got your shop stocked with the latest fashions, your employees are trained to within an inch of their lives, and you're ready to take on the world before Eid. But then disaster strikes - a fire breaks out in a neighboring shop and quickly spreads to yours. Your stock, your equipment, and maybe even your life's savings go up in smoke. What do you do?

Well, if you've got fire insurance, you can breathe a little easier. You can rest assured that you'll be able to recover at least some of your losses and get back on your feet. But if you don't have insurance? You're up the creek without a paddle, my friend. You'll be left to pick up the pieces on your own, with no help from anyone else.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "But Sakib, fire insurance is expensive! And it's just another way for the insurance companies to take our hard-earned money!" And sure, there are plenty of insurance companies out there who are just waiting to take advantage of you. But there are also plenty of reputable companies who can offer you a fair deal. It's all about doing your research and finding the right fit for your needs.


In here, let us also look the story of this fellow brother named Sahidul Lamented.

Shahidul’s life goals and plans were shattered within a matter of minutes as three of his shops burned down in the massive fire that broke out at Dhaka's Bangabazar Market earlier today.

“I came here around 6:30 am only to see the fire engulfing the whole market. The firefighting units are trying to bring the fire under control but haven't yet managed to do so,” Shahidul lamented at Government Employee’s Hospital.

“I had some hope that the firefighting units would be able to save Annex Tower where my shop and two warehouses are located but the fire engulfed it also,” he said.

Shahiful, hailing from Shahrasti upazila of Chandpur district, opened his shop at Phulbaria Bangabazar Market in 1991. Later, he became the owner of three more shops.

He claimed that he purchased goods worth Tk 8 crore for his four shops ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, but the fire turned everything into ash.

“I could not imagine that I would lose everything before Eid,” said Shahidul.

Like Shahidul, Moinuddin, another businessman and owner of Dolon Garment store in the market, said, “Everything has been lost.”

“I failed to do business for the last two years due to Covid-19. During this period, I faced a loss of several lakhs of taka. This year, I hoped that I will be able to make up for the losses but the fire has ruined everything.”

“I can’t continue my business anymore,” he said.
A massive fire broke out at Bangabazar Market this morning. 48 firefighting units are still working to extinguish the blaze.





In conclusion, I will enphazise the importance of goverment role and bussiness owners to stand against risk of hazzards and come up with rules and regulation to deal with these hazzards.

For example, this is a fire hydrant. These are small pumps found on roads around well-planned cities. Fire hydrants have water supply lines connected underground with them. Whenever a fire breaks out, firefighters locate the nearest fire hydrant where they connect hose pipes to supply water in order to extinguish fire. Every well-planned city has fire hydrants within a hose pipe range of every major establishment. Not too costly, but saves lives and assets from burning.

Today, a major fire station of Dhaka ran out of water in their backyards. WASA keeps digging pipelines forever. Adding fire hydrants wouldn’t cost Dhaka much.