Govt to go tough on shoddy buildings, illegal chemical factories: Minister

---

India's Orissa state legislature member Jhina Hikaka gesturing to journalists in Bhubaneswar recently.

FE Report
The government has moved to take actions against shoddy structures and chemical factories housed in residential areas in an effort to prevent repeat of the fire and building tragedies that last week killed nearly 150 people.
Food and Disaster Management Minister said Sunday that a taskforce would be formed within days to prepare a list of chemical factories and warehouses set up illegally in the city.
Another taskforce would list the buildings that flouted the country's construction laws, putting at risk millions of Dhaka residents, Abdur Razzak told a press briefing.
"Action will be taken against the wrongdoers to prevent repeats of disasters," said the minister, after an inter-ministerial meeting at his secretariat office.
The move comes in the wake of the Old Dhaka fire - deadliest blaze in the country's history - that killed 117 people and a collapse of a four-storied building at Begunbari which left 25 people dead.
Fire-fighters have said an illegal chemical storage house, set up in one of the six burnt buildings, was mainly responsible for the high number of deaths in the Neemtali blaze.
They said the toppled four-storied at Begunbari was built on raised columns on a swampy ground, defying basic construction rules.
The twin tragedies have shell-shocked Dhaka dwellers, sending panic among citizens, many of whom live in wobbly buildings and with poor fire safety measures.
Mr Razzak said the taskforces will be led by high officials to give them teeth and they would suggest steps and regulations to forestall these types of incidents.