S Alam to resume sugar production Saturday after hazardous fire at warehouse

The S Alam Refined Sugar Industries Limited is set to reopen its mill in Chattogram five days after a fire destroyed raw sugar at a warehouse, triggering fears of a price rise during Ramadan and environmental impact on the Karnaphuli river, bdnews24.com reports.

Sugar refining at the factory will resume on Saturday, Mohammad Hossain, the general manager (human resources) at the group, told the news agency on Friday.

The blaze erupted at S Alam Group crude sugar warehouse around 4pm on Monday.

Fifteen firefighting units managed to take control of the situation later that night, preventing the blaze from reaching the main factory and adjacent warehouses.

However, efforts to completely control the fire in warehouse No 1 were ongoing even on Friday afternoon.

Located beside the 11 MW S Alam Power Plant, the sugar mill operates using electricity generated by the plant.

Company officials said that 400,000 tonnes of raw sugar was stored across four warehouses at the mill, intended for refinement and subsequent sale during Ramadan.

However, around 100,000 tonnes of this stock stored in warehouse No 1 was destroyed by the fire.

Authorities attributed the difficulties in extinguishing the fire to the carbon and oxygen contained in the raw sugar stored at the location.

The incident has also caused environmental concerns. Since Monday afternoon, fish and aquatic life have begun floating to the surface of the Karnaphuli River due to diminished dissolved oxygen levels resulting from burnt sugar waste mixing into the water.

Experts have called for measures to prevent the waste from entering the river.