A total of 37 establishments, including storing houses for fishing nets, confectionaries, warehouses, as well as homes of many fishermen were gutted by fire in the Jele Palli area at Akmal Ali Ghat in Chattogrm city on early Sunday.
The devastating fire burned for seven hours before seven units of fire service were finally able to extinguish it around 7:00am.
The fire broke out around 12:10am on Sunday at Akmal Ali Ghat in Chattogram EPZ area. After nearly seven hours of effort, Fire Service was able to completely extinguished the fire.
According to the Chattogram Division Fire Service, 37 structures of various types were destroyed in the fire, most of which were fishing net storage houses. There were also tea shops, scrap shops, and oil shops among the affected buildings.
The eyewitnesses said, there are several tin-shed houses at Akmal Ali Ghat on the Outer Ring Road, where fishermen store their fishing nets after returning from sea. The fire suddenly broke out in one of these houses and quickly spread to the others. There were also a few shops and fuel stores nearby. Due to the presence of stored fuel and fishing nets in the area, it was challenging for even seven Fire Service units to bring the fire under control. Local business owners stated that fishing nets and boats were reduced to ashes, and it will take a long time to recover from this loss.
The fishermen expressed their grief, saying that they have lost everything and are now completely destitute. Each shed contained fishing nets worth Tk 15 to Tk 20 lakh. The total damage is estimated to be several crores of taka. Without government assistance, returning to fishing will be nearly impossible for them.
A victim named Kiran said Kiran said, I used to live here with my family. About a year ago, I moved my family to a nearby locality. Now, I’ve built a net storage house here. Last Baishakh, I spent 130,000 Taka to build the house to store the nets. Now, it’s all gone.
It was learnt that those who suffered losses were all owners of small boats (plastic life boats) and fished within a few kilometers from the shore. Most fishermen used to take advance payments from various traders and go to the sea fishing. Later, they would pay back the money by selling the fish. Now, without any boat and fishing material, they don’t know how to pay the debt.
From October 13 to November 3, there was a fishing ban in the sea. Even after the ban was lifted, many fishermen had not yet sent their boats into the sea due to a low catch of fish. As a result, most of the nets were stored on the shore, and all of them were burned in the fire.
Another victim Ilias explained that his net house, which measured 40/30 feet, contained around 200 nets of various sizes, 3 tonnes of rope, and the equipment from four boats. The cost of all these items was Tk 35 lakh.
Victim Mahbub said that the fire started in a net house on the eastern side. The people who used the house had gone fishing in the sea at night. The house quickly spread and there was no one to extinguish or report it.
The victims said that the fire destroyed three oil shops, two scrap shops, five tea shops, and 30 net houses belonging to 24 boat owners.
The affected fishermen said that while there were 24 of them, at least 150 other families who were also connected to their livelihoods became victim of the fire incident.
Shahadat Hossain, Senior Officer of the CEPZ Fire Service Station, said the fire broke out on the seashore at the Akmal Ali Ghat located at the Outer Ring Road. Following reports of the fire after midnight, two units from CEPZ and one from KEPZ Fire Service worked to control the blaze.
Chattogram Fire Service Assistant Director Md. Abdul Malek stated that the cause of the fire will be determined following an investigation.
