Recurring tragedies of slum fire

A devastating fire that engulfed a sprawling slum near Pallabi Jheel in the city's Mirpur, section 12 in the small hours of Monday is the first of its kind at the beginning of this dry season. As it happens in such tragic incidents slum dwellers of about 4,000 shanties lost most of their material possessions - some entirely, including cash as they received wages the previous day. It is yet to be ascertained how the fire originated. The investigation team is expected to pinpoint whether it was accidental or due to carelessness. The other possibility of arson cannot be ruled out as well. Slums built usually on government lands have a peculiar love-hate dimension when it comes to the intricate network of their sponsors, gangs of musclemen, drug runners and political lackeys. At times the sponsors themselves put slums on fire in order to evict the inhabitants who live there illegally.

The slum in Mirpur with single unit shanties, now reduced to ashes, was home mostly to garments workers. Many of the inhabitants there were financially better off compared with those living in other slums. The capital's slum economy is not negligible by any means and when fires consume shanties and the belongings of inhabitants, it is not only the victims who are affected but directly or indirectly production in factories and work elsewhere also suffer. With no shelter over their heads, slum dwellers have to build life from scratches once again. There are some who fall victim to such fires more than once. So, there is need for some serious thought over this problem of slum fire. Since this has been recurring year after year, a solution perhaps lies in providing slum dwellers with low-cost housing. Either they will own them or pay rent until they manage enough money to become owners of those.

Such a solution is all the more necessary in order to break the stranglehold of the illegal sponsors and their hired goons who have developed an underworld empire of crimes in slums. One of the choicest destinations and points of distribution of narcotics, including yaba, is a slum - any slum for that matter. If slums can be done away with and slum dwellers can live a comparatively decent life, the fight against drug is most likely to be successful soon. Slums built on large areas will not be required for their rehabilitation if the accommodation goes up vertically.

This city cannot run without the labour of slum dwellers even for a single day. They surely deserve better. Using them as pawns of rivalry over questionable share in illegal proceeds has gone on for a long time. These inhuman acts should be brought to an end. The sooner it is done the better. Also Bangladesh's graduation to a developing country certainly demands that this section of population lives in safe homes so that they can also contribute to economic activities more dynamically. Let an appropriate project be framed for their rehabilitation.