Even after the New Bangabazar fire tragedy in Gulistan on November 21, most hawkers’ markets in the city have not yet installed proper fire extinguishing systems in place.

In most cases, fire is caused by poor electrical wiring systems resultingin short-circuits, burning cigarette butts, electric irons which have been carelessly kept switched and similar acts of negligence.

These markets do not take basic precautionary measures like keeping a water reservoir, sand bags or fire extinguishers. There is also inadequate space between shops and four to five firemen can not move through them with their equipment during emergency.

Dhaka has around 100 hawkers' markets with the majority of them situated in Gulistan area. Most of the shops at these markets are makeshift ones built with low quality wood and tin. There is also no space between shops. Therefore when a fire starts it spreads rapidly from one shop to another.

The electric wires in these shops remain entangled and bring about catastrophic consequences during

a fire. When the blaze catches the stored clothes, the low quality tin simply melts with wood becoming the catalyst for greater intensity.

Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) owns some of the hawkers' markets while others belong to independent entrepreneurs. A few of these markets have shops made of concrete and are less threatened by a fire accident.

"Our market has space between shops. Besides, as the walls of the shops are made of concrete, fire can not pass from one shop to the next that easily," said Joynal Abedin Junel, office secretary of Dhanmondi hawkers’ market.

He however admitted that there was no proper fire extinguishing mechanism in the market

Asked why they let customers smoke inside the compound of the market, one of the officials replied that as nothing had happened so far, they saw no reasons to stop the customers from smoking.

There are four hawkers' markets in the same area --Bangabazar hawkers' market, Gulistan hawkers’ market, Mohanogori hawkers' market and Adorsho hawkers' market Four of them have individual associations but for major decisions, these

associations assemble under the same roof. Recently, they have agreed on intensifying precautionary measures to combat fire so that incidents like the fire at New Bangabazar can be avoided in future.

"We have experienced such tragedies before and that is why we are more cautious now. The fire incidents are mostly seen during winter. The last time a fire shook us was when the Bangabazar was destroyed on November 1995 during dawn. This time also, it has hit in the winter. As winter is high time for storing warm clothes, they are stacked on the lanes and because of that, the fire spreads rapidly," said chairman of Gulistan municipal hawkers, market Md Mozammel Haque.

"We do not let customers smoke inside the market We have fire extinguishers in front of each lane and in our office rooms as well. There are tanks full of water near every lane. Our guards and staff are trained regularly by the fire service department on how to put out the blaze in emergency situations," said another official.

Rahman Miah, a shop owner of New Bangabazar said if they had concrete shops, maybe most shops

would have survived. The scarcity of water was pointed out as the main reason for the devastation. As most canals and ponds in the city have been filled up or encroached, fire fighters and people do not have easy access to water. In New Bangabazar's case, when the fire service personnel finally arrived with water, it was already too late.

DCC’s executive engineer (bazaar circle) Syed Mozaffar Hossain said that they have plans to start visiting the markets, which are most prone to fire hazard, to warn them and will also ask the fire service department to run drills.

The passages at the back of New Bangabazar were totally blocked. That could have been a possible reason for such a large-scale devastation. Fire Service and Civil Defence officials also feel that the open gas pipes at the corner of the market were another main reason why the fire spread so quickly.

"Within one and a half months, a tender will be floated for reconstruction of the New Bangabazar according to instructions from the government. The market will be a two or three storied one with each shop getting 15 to 16 square feet space," informed Mozaffar.