On August 8, 2001, 24 garment workers were killed again in a stampede due to a false alarm. The building housed four separate factories with about 2,600 workers. When the workers tried to reach the main gates and emergency exits, they found both northern and southern gates locked. Actually there were only two emergency exits, the stairways were narrow and there were no emergency lights in case of power failure. When the alarm went off the main electrical switch was shut off and the workers ran along the stairs in darkness. Many people did not even know that there were alternative exits.

In August 1999, a garment factory fire killed 12 workers. Around 150 night shift workers who were sleeping in the factory woke up choking in smoke with the factory doors locked. Most of the trapped workers had to break down a third floor wall or climb down to escape.

After the August '99 incident, the government and factory owners made bold statements on the need for strict adherence to safety rules. But in spite of the then PM's publicised grief, shock and sympathy for the loss of lives, her government offered a paltry sum of 500 Takas and 25 kg of rice to each victim's family.

On paper the BGMEA has a whole list of safety measures each garments factory must adhere to. The BGMEA's safety cell has a monitoring team that provides training to factory staff and workers on fire safety methods and regularly inspects factories according to Md. Ataur Rahman, Senior Deputy secretary, BGMEA. "We have a checklist of all the safety measures a factory should have; if there is a discrepancy we make note of it and take measures appropriately," says Rahman. This may be in the form of loss of membership from BGMEA, which however, has not happened till date. "The team practically shows how to put out a fire, how to use fire extinguishers to the factory management. Fire drills are formed with 3 teams consisting of workers and staff. They include six persons for fire fighting, six for rescue and six to administer first aid. We record how long it takes everyone to go downstairs, whether all of them could come out and so on," Rahman explains. Every factory he adds has a register to monitor the drill quality. "If there are flaws, for instance if goods block the staircase or if the wiring system is faulty, we report this to the BGMEA," says Rahman. If factories do not comply with the standards set by the BGMEA, it can withdraw benefits of the member or even suspend the factory. But usually the factory owners come around and introduce the measures according to Rahman.

To make it more complex, the country does not have any emergency hotline. Like any other government organisation, the Fire Brigade has its own numbers, which, Dr Nizam thinks, no one remembers as "they are very difficult to memorise." But, given the traffic in the city, it is virtually impossible for the firemen to come and put out the fire within 2.5 minutes. "No one should completely depend on the fire service alone and every production unit should have its own fire-fighting appliances," he says. Most of the factories in the country do not have any smoke detector, let alone a fire sprinkler, which is a necessity in every 10 square feet area of a production complex. "I even doubt whether most of the factories have adequate fire extinguisher or not. You won't even find water in the bathrooms of some of the factories forget having a reserve to put out a fire," Dr Nizamuddin Ahmed says.

The site where the recent tragedy took place clearly manifests all the structural flaws that can lead to a disaster. The main staircase where the stampede occurred is barely 5 feet wide. The wall end of the staircase was completely broken down during the pandemonium. A quick glimpse of Shifa Apparels (which lost five workers) gives a picture of many small factories that have mushroomed all over Mirpur and other areas. Workers have barely a few inches between them, the air is suffocating with so many people jam-packed. Machines, material and humans are packed like sardines for many hours at a time and even a small-scale mishap can lead to a catastrophe. As for fire exits, the ones at this building are narrow steel staircases on the outside of the building with railings so low one wrong step will lead to a sure fall. So much for a safe safety route!

Technically all building construction in the city has to be done with the approval from RAJUK (Rajdhani Unnon Kotripokhkho). According to RAJUK laws, buildings in the city can be built for residential or commercial purposes (offices). But many garment factories have been built in such 'commercial spaces' in complete violation of such regulations. How did this happen? "While most of the rules are regularly being flouted, the organisation turns a blind eye to it. So, the buildings, which are built to house five to 10 people, are now used for industrial purposes," Dr Nizam says. This, in turn, results in the use of more electronic appliances like electric fans and machines in a decompart-mentalised open space, which have made the garment industries more prone to fire. Moreover, he continues, the electricity lines are not properly rooted in these buildings. Because of haphazard power management, incidents of fire have been increasing, he continues.

RAJUK has recently announced 139 buildings in residential areas of the city as being illegally constructed and has warned that their lease agreements would be cancelled if their position as residential buildings is not restored. But this seems to have spared the scores of claustrophobic garment factories all over Dhaka in areas such as Mirpur, Gulshan, Old Airport road and Banani. Iqbaluddin Ahmed, RAJUK's chairman, defends this strange discrepancy by saying that RAJUK will not allow any new such factories to crop up and that in any case nowadays the new ones usually locate themselves in industrial areas.

Yet the fact remains that existing factories continue to thrive in residential areas because of RAJUK's indulgence of an industry that has virtually placed the country on the global map and created employment for thousands of poor people. "International observers are very particular about facilities for workers and new factories must adhere to that to survive," says Iqbaluddin Ahmed. Location of a garment factory, therefore, says Ahmed, must be in an industrial area. Relocation seems to be a buzzword at RAJUK, BGMEA and many big wigs of the garment industry have built their factories outside the city adhering to universal safety standards.

"We cannot go on like this," says Md Ali Azim Khan, chairman, standing committee on Safety Measures, BGMEA. "Buyers are also very concerned about safety standards," says Khan, whose factory has been built on the outskirts of the city.

But, relocation, Khan adds, is very expensive, so smaller factory owners are reluctant to move. It is quite impossible for the small entrepreneurs to operate their industry, as the rate of interest is really high in the capital market.

"We cannot force them to move but we advise them. We have requested the government to give us a big space to set up a garment village where all the factories can be located. For instance we asked for the Adamjee Jute Mills area but the price the government is offering, Tk 2 lakh per katha, is too high," he says. According to Khan unless the government helps the garment factories with land and funds, relocation may still be a far off possibility.

The Ready Made Garments Sector accounts for 75% of Bangladesh's export earnings and employs around 15 lakh people. Obviously it is the most important sector of our economy. All the more reason for the government to support the factories by helping them to relocate and also make sure they are safe working places. Garment factory owners who reap the greatest benefits from the hard labour of their workers cannot afford to make half-hearted attempts to adhere to international safety standards. BGMEA has decided to compensate the families of the victims of the recent tragedy with Tk 1 lakh each. But human life, cannot be priced.