A huge conflagration consumed part of one of Dhaka's biggest slum. Chalantika Slum, known by the place it is located, was literally empty as most of its residents went to villages on the occasion of Eid and the rest went to garment factories. Luckily no loss of life was registered.
Initial damage estimates, surfaced on the press, insinuate that 20000 houses were gutted down by the fire. The slum was erected on the lands of National Housing Authority.
Press reports and my personal encounters with some victims revealed that damaged section of slum generated no less than Tk12000000 as rents , shared by political stalwarts. In addition, they collected utility bills worth Tk 15000000, tiny part of which fill the coffers of utility companies. Some of the victims had been residing there for more than a decade.
I went there to see myself the damage the fire inflicted to the slum. I noticed only part of the slum sustained damages and a huge part remained unscathed. It is almost hidden in the jungle of residential buildings, garment factories, mosques and markets. New apartment blocs are being constructed in the adjacent areas.
This slum fire also laid bare the amount of fortune a single slum generates to a certain quarter. Many of the victims are rickshaw puller, day laborer and RMG workers.
I talked to a rickshaw puller who told me about a shop keeper who lost all his savings kept in an iron chest. Another man living in adjacent residential quarter lost clandestine wealth of Tk 10 million that he had given to his maid servant to keep it in a safe place in the slum where it is difficult for the law enforcement authorities to conduct raid. Having heard of the fire, the man had a severe cardiac arrest.
I have no idea before that a slum could be used for so many different purposes.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) did slum surveys in 1986 , 1997 and 2014. In the last survey it was found that both num number of slum and slum dwelling household increased many times. In 1997 there were 1579 slums in Dhaka. In 2014, both the city corporations had 2394 slums in. 2014. In 2014, 2232114 people lived in slums across Bangladesh. Obviously this number has gone up by this time. In Dhaka, number of slum dwelling population was 594 861 in 2014. This number has also increased in the last 5 years.
Number of Slum. Red=1997, Green=2014. (Source:BBS Slum Survey 2014)
Main Occupation of Slum Population in 2014 (in percentage) (Source:BBS Slum Survey 2014)
The 2014 survey also divulged that main occupations of slum dwelling population were garment worker, rickshaw puller, micro businessman, services , construction worker, transport worker etc. Informal sector profession constitutes a large part of slum dwelling population's occupation. Evidently informal sector contributes to a great extent to the slum economy.
Another finding of this survey was that number of slums are higher in Dhaka, Chattogram and Gazipur where wages for day laborers and rickshaw pullers are much higher than other cities. Moreover, garment factories are also concentrated in these key cities.
Now if we stick to the 2394 slums in 2014 and assume that each slum generates Tk 1 crore per month , then that number of slums alone could generate Tk 2394 crore per month! Adding clandestine trade income like narcotics business to slum rent will increase monthly revenue from each slum by manifolds. Bata with its more than 1000 sales centers across Bangladesh made a profit of only Tk 50 crore last year. Surprisingly, one single slum could alone yield that much money in one single month if we take into account narco money.
Moreover, slums also open up new alleys of revenues for this very quarter who lives off this undocumented wealth. A study conducted couple of years ago divulged that Tk 1350 crore are collected from footpaths of Dhaka every year. Many of these street vendors like construction workers and rickshaw pullers live in the slums. So part of the slum dwellers' earnings end up filling the coffers of vested quarters. Furthermore, clandestine wealth generated by slums makes its way into the mainstream economy under the disguise of valid businesses. As bad money drives out good money, illegal wealth's entry into mainstream kills competition and consumer interests, pushes legal businesses into the corner and works as a stimulant to increase corruption and to encourage bad practices like tax evasion, forgery etc. This is how slum economy keeps alive rent seeking system that is part and parcel of anarchic politics, making our lives and livelihoods miserable and clipping the opportunities for millions of Bangladeshis.
Keeping a close tab on this informal sector economy is quintessential to put an end to the ongoing practices. Specialized public and private organizations need to be involved in bringing slum economy into mainstream economy. A mix of existing and new financial services may be introduced to cater to the demand of slum dwellers so that they save and do transaction through these systems, lessening their dependence on existing insecure systems. Government and city corporations should step forward to provide cheap and safe accommodation to informal sector workforce. In exchange City Corporations or any specialized government body can collect the rents , much lower than the current ones. For cash strapped City Corporations this new source of revenue will scuttle its need for public fund and allow it to finance its own initiative. At the same time it will have a firm control over slum population and will regulate their activity to make the cities more livable and cohesive.
Chalantika slum fire is at the same time a wake up call for and a reminder to our policy makers and city administrators that for far too long greed and callousness of rent seekers have been hatching dangers to slum and adjacent areas. This cannot continue and time has come to mainstream the slum economy, warding off the influences of rent seekers and narco traders. Given the number of households residing in the makeshift shanties, improving living standards and livelihoods will remain an unfinished task without addressing the slum population.
Initial damage estimates, surfaced on the press, insinuate that 20000 houses were gutted down by the fire. The slum was erected on the lands of National Housing Authority.
Press reports and my personal encounters with some victims revealed that damaged section of slum generated no less than Tk12000000 as rents , shared by political stalwarts. In addition, they collected utility bills worth Tk 15000000, tiny part of which fill the coffers of utility companies. Some of the victims had been residing there for more than a decade.
I went there to see myself the damage the fire inflicted to the slum. I noticed only part of the slum sustained damages and a huge part remained unscathed. It is almost hidden in the jungle of residential buildings, garment factories, mosques and markets. New apartment blocs are being constructed in the adjacent areas.
This slum fire also laid bare the amount of fortune a single slum generates to a certain quarter. Many of the victims are rickshaw puller, day laborer and RMG workers.
I talked to a rickshaw puller who told me about a shop keeper who lost all his savings kept in an iron chest. Another man living in adjacent residential quarter lost clandestine wealth of Tk 10 million that he had given to his maid servant to keep it in a safe place in the slum where it is difficult for the law enforcement authorities to conduct raid. Having heard of the fire, the man had a severe cardiac arrest.
I have no idea before that a slum could be used for so many different purposes.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) did slum surveys in 1986 , 1997 and 2014. In the last survey it was found that both num number of slum and slum dwelling household increased many times. In 1997 there were 1579 slums in Dhaka. In 2014, both the city corporations had 2394 slums in. 2014. In 2014, 2232114 people lived in slums across Bangladesh. Obviously this number has gone up by this time. In Dhaka, number of slum dwelling population was 594 861 in 2014. This number has also increased in the last 5 years.
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Number of Slum. Red=1997, Green=2014. (Source:BBS Slum Survey 2014)
Main Occupation of Slum Population in 2014 (in percentage) (Source:BBS Slum Survey 2014)
The 2014 survey also divulged that main occupations of slum dwelling population were garment worker, rickshaw puller, micro businessman, services , construction worker, transport worker etc. Informal sector profession constitutes a large part of slum dwelling population's occupation. Evidently informal sector contributes to a great extent to the slum economy.
Another finding of this survey was that number of slums are higher in Dhaka, Chattogram and Gazipur where wages for day laborers and rickshaw pullers are much higher than other cities. Moreover, garment factories are also concentrated in these key cities.
Now if we stick to the 2394 slums in 2014 and assume that each slum generates Tk 1 crore per month , then that number of slums alone could generate Tk 2394 crore per month! Adding clandestine trade income like narcotics business to slum rent will increase monthly revenue from each slum by manifolds. Bata with its more than 1000 sales centers across Bangladesh made a profit of only Tk 50 crore last year. Surprisingly, one single slum could alone yield that much money in one single month if we take into account narco money.
Moreover, slums also open up new alleys of revenues for this very quarter who lives off this undocumented wealth. A study conducted couple of years ago divulged that Tk 1350 crore are collected from footpaths of Dhaka every year. Many of these street vendors like construction workers and rickshaw pullers live in the slums. So part of the slum dwellers' earnings end up filling the coffers of vested quarters. Furthermore, clandestine wealth generated by slums makes its way into the mainstream economy under the disguise of valid businesses. As bad money drives out good money, illegal wealth's entry into mainstream kills competition and consumer interests, pushes legal businesses into the corner and works as a stimulant to increase corruption and to encourage bad practices like tax evasion, forgery etc. This is how slum economy keeps alive rent seeking system that is part and parcel of anarchic politics, making our lives and livelihoods miserable and clipping the opportunities for millions of Bangladeshis.
Keeping a close tab on this informal sector economy is quintessential to put an end to the ongoing practices. Specialized public and private organizations need to be involved in bringing slum economy into mainstream economy. A mix of existing and new financial services may be introduced to cater to the demand of slum dwellers so that they save and do transaction through these systems, lessening their dependence on existing insecure systems. Government and city corporations should step forward to provide cheap and safe accommodation to informal sector workforce. In exchange City Corporations or any specialized government body can collect the rents , much lower than the current ones. For cash strapped City Corporations this new source of revenue will scuttle its need for public fund and allow it to finance its own initiative. At the same time it will have a firm control over slum population and will regulate their activity to make the cities more livable and cohesive.
Chalantika slum fire is at the same time a wake up call for and a reminder to our policy makers and city administrators that for far too long greed and callousness of rent seekers have been hatching dangers to slum and adjacent areas. This cannot continue and time has come to mainstream the slum economy, warding off the influences of rent seekers and narco traders. Given the number of households residing in the makeshift shanties, improving living standards and livelihoods will remain an unfinished task without addressing the slum population.
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