Department of inspection unaware of chemical warehouse behind deadly Mirpur fire, officials say
“There is no record with us that a chemical warehouse existed there. It is impossible for us to know if someone sets up a warehouse like this inside a residential building,” said Atiqur Rahman, deputy inspector general (DIG) of DIFE.
Officials of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) have claimed that they had no knowledge or approval record of the chemical warehouse in the capital's Shialbari, Mirpur where a fire killed at least 16 people today (14 October).
Speaking to The Business Standard, Atiqur Rahman, deputy inspector general (DIG) of DIFE's Dhaka region, said, "We only learned that the fire occurred in a chemical warehouse. However, we could not identify who owns the establishment.
"There is no record with us that a chemical warehouse existed there. It is impossible for us to know if someone sets up a warehouse like this inside a residential building."
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Labour Inspector Md Ahsan Jamil echoed the statement, adding, "We are still unable to trace the owners of the chemical warehouse."
Under the law, any factory or establishment storing chemicals must obtain prior approval from DIFE.
Engineer Farid Ahmed, joint inspector general (JIG) of DIFE, said, "Whether it is a factory or not, any chemical warehouse must be approved by DIFE according to the law."
When asked why such warehouses fall outside DIFE's monitoring, a senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "There are millions of such establishments and factories in Dhaka. In practice, it is difficult to monitor all of them."
