A government-formed committee had to suspend its function in Old Dhaka for a couple of days due to non-cooperation from local traders and homeowners in the area, officials said.
The labour ministry on February 22 formed the five-member committee to prepare a database of the factories located in Old Dhaka including the number of factories, their nature of work, and raw materials they use and to identify risks of plastic and chemical factories and recommend the ways to mitigate the risks.
The move came after the devastating fire incident at Chawkbazar in the city on February 20 that killed at least 70 people.
Headed by an additional secretary of the labour ministry, the body was also asked to investigate the cause of the fire and prepare their report within 10 days, they added.
When asked, a labour ministry official said, "We started work from February 24. A total of 35 inspectors from Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments remain engaged in completing the task in time."
"But we have kept our work suspended for the last two days as 'panicked' businesspeople and building owners were barring our people from entering the area. Even they were not cooperating in our work," he said.
The committee has started its function in seven thanas including Kotwali, Sutrapur, Chawk Bazar, Lalbagh, Kamrangirchar, Bangshal and Hazaribagh and factory inspectors are going door to door to prepare the list, another committee member said.
The body so far made a list of more than 1,800 factories and establishments that deal with flammable products and chemicals, he said, adding that there are a good number of establishments which remained out of their inspection due to non-cooperation from local businesspeople.
He, however, said they will resume their work shortly depending on the situation.
Meanwhile, the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) task force disconnected utility lines of 29 buildings in Old Dhaka on Monday for illegally storing chemicals and other flammable materials in residential areas.
Several teams of the task force conducted the drive at Haronath Gosh, Nandakumar, Moneshwar, and Nilambar roads in Hazaribagh area.
DSCC also started restoring utility connections to the houses in Old Dhaka after checking its compliance with safety rules.
So far it restored connections to eight households at Shahidnagar on February 2 and 3.
Earlier, the task force had disconnected utility lines of 76 houses/holdings for storing chemicals and flammable materials in residential areas of Old Dhaka.
"We have received applications from 15 homeowners for restoring gas, water and power connections," a high official of DSCC told the FE.
He said eight houses out of 15 got utility connections again after scrutiny by the city corporation authorities.
Seven more houses (where chemicals were stored) will get their utility services restored after inspection by the task force, he added.
Householders in their applications informed the DSCC authorities that their houses have no chemical or flammable items. They also sought reinstatement of utility connections.
Utility services were restored to four houses (holding No 78, 135-Ka, 81 and plot No 6615) at Shahidnagar on February 03 while four others on February 02.
DSCC is now scrutinising eight more applications, submitted by homeowners at Islambagh and Asgar Lane, for restoring utility services.
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