Working children at stake in old Dhaka

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Habib Toriqul
The fire accident in the old part of Dhaka, Nimtali on June, 2010 has led to our realization about the distress of living amid the devils in the city and again, the earthquake on September 18, 2011 reminded us of the risks of living on a shaky ground. Extreme population density, old dilapidated buildings without unreinforced masonry, narrow road network, close proximity to adjacent buildings, irregular building shape etc. have made the older parts such as Sutrapur, Lalbagh, Kotwali, Bangla Bazar, Bangshal, Armanitola, Hazaribagh, Siddique Bazar, Naya Bazar, Begum Bazar, Tanti Bazar, Nawabpur, Gendaria, Shyampur and Islampur of the capital city very much vulnerable to any natural disaster or accident.
In such areas, many old buildings were constructed last two to three centuries ago. Among the surveyed buildings in Shakhari Bazar of Ward No.72, about 27% buildings are within high risk group whereas for in Ward No. 73 of Shakhari Bazar, high-risk group comprised 15% of such buildings. For Biren Bose Street of Ward No. 66, the risk is mostly moderate and light. About 76% of the surveyed buildings are more than 150 years old and owned by individual and these buildings were constructed on a limited area. About 61% of the surveyed buildings appear to be poor in quality assessment. About 28% of the buildings are in an average condition since these were repaired time to time by the owners.
From ward number 59 to ward number 67, a total of 6437 children work under hazardous conditions where most small industries and machine shops are crammed with hazardous chemicals, inflammable materials, and unprotected fire sources.
If a big earthquake occurs any time, a great number of causalities will take place. Broken gas lines frequently create the scope for fire hazards and the intensity will be acute by dissolving flammable liquids like gasoline, lighter fluid, and paint thinner -- the items that may spill over. They may manage to survive in the event of any lower medium-type of earthquake but certainly not from fire. It can even be very difficult for the personnel of any rescue team, official or otherwise, to reach such places in time to save lives in the event of any disaster.
Ismail (14), working in a shoe factory, knows that there is a wide range of dangers around the factory. "In the factory, we work with fire all the time with inflammable materials like petrol and kerosene lying all around". It is a matter of serious concern that children like Ismail have to stay night in that factory or similar ones. Most such factories are congested -- hardly 16 feet long and 10 feet wide -- and approximately have ten or less number of workers working at such places. We asked them about their preparedness to meet the emergency situation, arising out of any disaster like earthquake and fire occurring. But surprisingly enough, they do not know how to stay safe during such a situation. Like Ismail, there are thousands of children who do not know even simple things about preparedness so that can stay alive and safe during a major accident.
The Factories Act 1965 prohibits the employment of young children below the age of 14 years in hazardous occupations, and lays down the regulations for a secure and healthy working environment for a worker, whether a child or an adolescent. Hence this is high time to take effective measures for disaster management-related preparedness to meet the needs of the working children.
(The writer can be reached at e-mail:torikku0516@yahoo.com)