Helemul Alam

With the Eid-ul-Azha just day after tomorrow, the sale of sacrificial animals was poor at the capital’s cattle markets until yesterday evening mainly due to high prices.

Eighteen makeshift cattle markets of two Dhaka city corporations began operating yesterday, with very few buyers.

As many residents are expected to leave Dhaka for the Eid vacation, experts are concerned about the potential increase in dengue breeding grounds that may emerge during this period of vacant households. Without adequate measures in place, the empty houses become potential hotspots for stagnant water accumulation, the ideal breeding habitat for Aedes mosquitoes.

With Eid-ul-Azha being just six days away, lease holders of different cattle haats have started setting up markets on various roads in the capital illegally.

With nine days left for Eid-ul-Azha, Dhaka dwellers have started to visit Gabtali, the city’s permanent cattle market.

The Den-2 and Den-3 variants of dengue are active this year and of the two, Den-2 is more prominent, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.

Climate change, multi-story buildings where cars are kept and washed and the huge number of under-construction buildings, and preserving water in drums or buckets are some of the main reasons for finding dengue cases around the year, said experts.

The number of dengue patients crossed the 1,000 mark in May this year, which is five times higher than the same month in 2019. In 2019, the country saw over 1,00,000 dengue patients, the highest in the country since its first outbreak in Bangladesh in 2000.

City life comes with rapid change. But for the residents of Dhanmondi what didn’t change for long were the trees and plants on the median of Saat Masjid Road. Bursting with blossoms in spring and summer, the krishnachuras and the radhachuras, among other trees, became a part of their lives.

The country has already seen the death of 12 dengue patients before the beginning of the monsoon, while 1,261 others were hospitalised till yesterday. The numbers indicate alarming signs of a massive dengue outbreak this year.

Fire safety in Dhaka’s market buildings is in a very precarious condition, which has increased vulnerabilities for people and properties associated with these markets. The recent fire incidents in Bangabazar and Dhaka New Super Market are testimonies of these harsh realities prevailing in the capital, said Dr Adil Mohammed Khan, executive director of Institute for Planning and Development (IPD), during an interview with The Daily Star yesterday.

When one enters the building of Sharif Market on Chittaranjan Avenue in Sadarghat, there is a feeling of suffocation, despite the empty spaces between the eight-storey building. The building has been identified as risky in terms of fire safety. However, it only has nine fire extinguishers.

Dhaka South City Corporation is cutting trees in the name of infrastructure development and beautification works at Saat Masjid Road in Dhanmondi, amid the existing scarcity of greenery in the capital.

Modernisation of two major parks in Dhaka, Osmani Udyan and Panthakuja Park, has been underway since January 2018 with the aim of beautifying the city's green spaces

Many city dwellers complained of gas leaks in parts of the capital with some coming out of their homes and staying on the street for hours on Monday night fearing blasts

The devastating fire that broke out at Dhaka New Super Market on Saturday has left shop owners and staff struggling to pick up the pieces of their businesses. While they await permission from authorities to resume activities, they have taken it upon themselves to clean up their shops, or whatever that is left of it.

Just 11 days after a blaze ripped through the Bangabazar shopping complex, another one yesterday gutted Dhaka New Super Market, causing losses to businesses and traders.

A faulty Titas Gas line might have caused the explosion at the seven-storey Café Queen building in the capital’s Siddique Bazar last month, say investigators.

The Bangabazar traders are struggling to get back on their feet after the devastating fire that burned everything in its path. The second day of reopening through makeshift arrangements has not been easy for them, with sales remaining low.

After the demolition of century-old Neelam Ghar and Jahajbari, another heritage building -- the old Railway Hospital, which was established 125 years ago -- is set to be demolished.