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Thick smoke shrouds nearby areas

Locals find it difficult to breathe

Staff Correspondent
Air in the neighbouring areas of Bashundhara City Shopping Complex, especially on its western and northern sides, became thick with black smoke from the fire that broke out on the complex's fifth floor yesterday morning. ft looked like a foggy winter day in the evening. Nothing far away could be seen through the layers of smoke. Moreover, there was smell of burning making it difficult to breathe.
Watching the air pollution, some residents of the Garden View apart-ments located behind the Bashundhara complex dropped their children off to their friends and families' houses.
People were seen wearing masks at the nearby roads.
Zahangir Alam, caretaker of Golden View apartments where nearly 100 families live, said he saw at least 15 to 20 families send their children to stay with their relatives or friends.
"At least two families with young children have left their apartments. People of some other families also left,” said Abdul Latif, caretaker of another nearby apartment block.
ft was hard for him to do his duty since there was difficulty in breathing, he added.
Hosne Ara, another resident of Garden Road behind the shopping complex, said she cooked rice and curry for lunch but could not eat due to stinks of burnt plastic.
Residents of Panthapath, Green Road, West Rajabazar, East Rajabazar and even from Indira Road were also complaining about the situation.
Smoke reached as far as Tejturi Bazar, said KawserSohel, owner of Maa Dowa Pharmacy at Green Road.
People living as far as 500 metres from the shopping complex were seen complaining about the smell of burnt plastic.
" Eyes are burning while we are getting strong smell of burnt plastic,“ said a man who went to say prayers at the mosque of Tejturi Bazar yesterday evening.
People at the mosque located nearly 500 metres off the Basudhara mall could feel the smell more since, Md Shaheen Mia said, it had no door or window.
All the shops around the mall were closed throughout the evening.
Fire fighters said the floor where the fire broke out had shops of cell phones, shoes and luggage made of plastic.
Manzurul Hannan Khan, director of an air quality monitoring project under the Department of Environment, told The Daily Star that they had installed a device to monitor the air quality in the capital's Farmgate near the mall.
"We cannot say what the level of pollution is until we get measurements from our device. However, if smoke mixes with air for a whole day, certainly the air quality will deteriorate," he said.