BANGLADESH: Massive building collapse in Savar

WE are hugely jolted by utter shock and grief at the tragedy that befell the occupants of the nine-storey building which collapsed Wednesday morning at Savar. The death toll has risen above 100, while over 600 are reported to have been injured. It is feared that that the casualty figure may rise further. What saddens us still is that the lives of several hundred others are hanging in balance as they remain trapped in the collapsed structure. The rescue operation carried out by the army, Rab, fire-fighters and civil defence units is being severely constrained in absence of appropriate equipment in their hands. They are racing against time to save as many of those trapped people as feasible with their limited capacity. This is a wake-up call for the authorities concerned to have adequate measures in place to improve the existing infrastructure of the agencies responsible for meeting such tragedies. It is worthwhile to note that the misfortune was not completely out of the blue, since experts had already issued warning about a possible disaster after cracks were detected in the building’s walls. Accordingly, the garment factories and the bank had been closed since Tuesday. What puzzles us is why the predictable collapse of the Savar building should have been associated with such enormous human tragedy? Why those who fell victim to the tragedy were allowed to enter a building that was already declared hazard-prone? Why had the local administration and those in charge of managing the building not sealed it off beforehand? Clearly, the avoidable human tragedy has been due to unpardonable callousness on the part of those who were supposed to keep the building closed to workers and visitors. Reports have it those employees were compelled join work at the garment units in the tragedy-stricken building. If that is the case, then the culpability of victims’ employers becomes more serious. The dreadful memory of a similar building collapse in 2005 in which some 70 workers of Spectrum Garments lost their lives has not yet been wiped off the memory. How many more such disasters with incalculable loss of human lives will be necessary to make all those concerned to be more respectful towards human lives? The government should mount a survey to identify the other such defective buildings in and around the city and take measures to retrofit them, if only to save similar misfortunes in the future.