Nimtoli Inferno Victims
Cries for help go unheard
Shamsunnahar along with other women sit on the premises of their burnt houses at Nimtoli in the old Dhaka.Photo: Shawkat Jamil
People rendered homeless due to the devastating inferno at Nimtoli in the old part of the city are yet to return home as they could not repair their burnt houses for lack of funds. Frustration has gripped the members of 10 families as they have been passing nights at the houses of their relatives and neighbours with nobody to help repair their houses. The victims, mainly of low-income group, do not know when they will be able to fix their houses and return home. “We pass the whole day on roads and at the burnt houses. When night comes we take shelter on the corridor of one of our relative's residence,” said Azmeri Begum, 36, mother of three daughters. The blaze burnt the one-story tin-shed house on about one and a half decimal land owned by Azmeri, her mother Shamsunnahar and brother Nasir Uddin. Housewife Azmeri, her daughters and rickshaw-van puller husband have been passing nights on the corridor of a relative's house since the incident of fire. Azmeri's mother Shamsunnahar, 70, and six-member family of her brother Nasir Uddin are now living at other people's houses too as they lived at the same burnt house no 54/3 at Nabab Katra sharing rooms. The blaze burnt the entire house and its furniture. “Me and my mentally challenged son lived at a room in that house. Now, we are passing nights at a neighbour's residence,” said Shamsunnahar. She runs the family depending on Tk 1,800 that she receives monthly under a pension scheme of her late husband. Only Shamsunnahar received Tk 10,000 support from an unknown person while the family of Azmeri and Nasir Uddin did not get any financial assistance as no family members died or were injured in the fire. “It would cost around Tk 3 lakh to repair our house which is impossible for us to collect,” said Azmeri. On the night of June 3, the most tragic fire incident in country's history occurred at Nabab Katra of Nimtoli that killed 123 people including women and children while injuring around 150. The blaze burnt six residential buildings and over 20 shops, causing around 80 families to suffer. After the disaster, the government gave Tk one lakh to each family that lost members and provided free hospital treatment to the injured. However, victims who lost their houses and other properties did not get financial aid. Members of another three families who lost six members in the blaze are passing nights at the houses of their relatives. They were at another tin-shed house no 55 on about one and a half decimal land that was burnt in the fire too. “We three families received Tk 3 lakh aid as six members of our families died in the fire, of which major share has been spent arranging chehlum and other rituals,” said Mohammad Sabuj, sales representative of a local cigarette company. Sultan Mia, who lost a grocery shop and a one-story tin-shed residence in the blaze is staying outside with a five-member family due to fund crisis. Owner of another tin-roofed two-story building Mohammad Sultan and his family members are staying outside their home too as the fire burnt the house, killing his wife and some tenants. He said it would cost several lakh taka to make his house fit for living. Like them, members of few other families who are financially poor are passing nights outside, as they could not make their burnt houses fit for dwelling again. Dhaka City Corporation Ward 69 Councillor Mohammad Mohan told The Daily Star recently that members of over 10 families are living outside as they could not repair their burnt houses due to fund crisis. They earn very small amount of money and have not enough money to repair their burnt houses. They use to stay sharing rooms on small pieces of land that they inherited from ancestors, he added.
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