Chemical warehouses finally moving to Shyampur

Fifty-four temporary chemical warehouses built under the Prime Minister's priority-based "Warehouse construction for the storage of chemicals on a temporary basis" project have been inaugurated in Shyampur to relocate chemical warehouses from Old Dhaka.

The project is implemented by the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) under the Ministry of Industries.

Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh inaugurated the temporary warehouses on Sunday.

State Minister for Industries Kamal Ahmed Majumder, Dhaka-4 lawmaker Sayed Abu Hossain, Industries Secretary Zakia Sultana and BCIC Chairman Md Saidur Rahman were present.

The project was launched in March 2019, and its construction was completed recently. The estimated cost of the project is Tk71.44 crore, but the actual cost stands at Tk62.51 crore, of which the government gave Tk58.27 crore and the BCIC gave Tk4.24 crore.

This project spread on 6.17 acres of land is implemented through Narayanganj Dockyard and Engineering Works Ltd, an organisation of Bangladesh Navy.

The government took up this project on an urgent basis at the site of Ujala Match Factory Ltd in Shyampur, in a bid to relocate chemical factories and warehouses from Old Dhaka to a safer place as soon as possible.

According to the list prepared by Dhaka South City Corporation, there are 1,924 chemical godowns in Old Dhaka and its adjacent areas. Of them, 1,301 chemical warehouses and establishments are in DSCC Tax Zone-3, 585 in Zone-4 and 38 in Zone-5. So far, 500 chemical warehouses and establishments are in Islambagh under Zone-3.

"The initiative was taken to move chemical godowns from densely-populated areas under the direction of the Prime Minister in order to prevent recurrence of any Nimtoli and Churihatta-like tragedies. These temporarily constructed chemical warehouses will soon be allotted to real traders. Construction of a similar warehouse in Tongi is currently underway," said Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun while inaugurating the temporary warehouses.

He informed that implementation of the BSIC Chemical Industrial Park on 310 acres of land at Sirajdikhan in Munshiganj is currently underway.

Speaking as the special guest, Dhaka north Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said that chemicals and explosives will be shifted from Old Dhaka through this arrangement of separate warehouses. The traders who will move to these warehouses will have to invest again.

"We believe that all hazardous chemicals will be shifted [from Old Dhaka] slowly. We want Dhaka to be a disaster-tolerant livable city, not a disaster-prone city," he added.

The Dhaka north mayor also demanded the speedy formulation of the "Old Dhaka Chemical Products Transfer Policy", saying that it is necessary to make a business-friendly policy based on the opinion of the business representatives for quick relocation of those.

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