The unfortunate and deadly factory collapse at Savar occurred on April 24 and the death toll is now set to cross 900. Another 500 are considered missing as per a guesstimate of rescuers assigned there. Around 3,500 workers were in the building before it collapsed. Building owner Sohel Rana, a powerful companion of local MP, forced the workers to return to work inside the Rana Plaza in spite of knowing the risks of collapse. In the first response after the incident, the common people of Savar rushed immediately to rescue the people trapped under debris. This was a nine-storey building which foundered suddenly from the level three. But it showed an ominous sign of visible cracks on the day before the collapse but was ignored by the building and factory owners. A bank branch in the level two, however, instantly evacuated its staffs and documents fearing the impending collapse. After the accident, the government swung into action immediately by assigning the Fire Brigade, the Army, the Rapid Action Battalion and the police with available logistics to rescue the trapped workers where common people assisted them with their fullest capacity. The whole Savar tragedy was telecast live by the satellite channels and the entire country was glued to the TV sets in utter shock.
The collapse of 'Rana Plaza' in Savar is the most terrific building disaster in the country's history, which was not seen before. The rescuers lacked the required tools and equipment which were necessary to save people. Many organisations from Dhaka had collected blood, saline, oxygen and dry foods for the survivors. But the rescue mission was slow due to dearth of equipment and because of the horrible condition of crash and rubble where the accidental fire under the debris further debilitated the situation. On April 28, the UK-based The Telegraph reported that Great Britain along with some other countries offered rescue assistance to the Bangladesh government with teams of experienced rescuers and heavy lifting equipment. But Bangladesh rejected the offer as per the report. However, no official statement is still available from the government side. Later on April 30, the BBC also reported the same by quoting Home Minister MK Alamgir. The Telegraph claimed on the basis of a diplomatic source that it has documents which substantiate the communication with the Bangladesh Foreign and Home Ministries. Even it stated in its report that officials were due to deploy heavy machinery to clear the rubble away… having decided survivors would not last more than 72 hours. But after a public backlash, they delayed the plan, as more people were pulled out alive and yet more cries from survivors could be heard." But the rescue mission, led by the Bangladesh Army asserted that it did not go for massive operations, now going on, to lift the pile of rubbles before confirming the possibility of rescuing one more worker no matter how tough it would be.
There were tens of thousands of people in the crashed spot of Savar including newspaper reporters, social activists, political groups, students, human rights organisations and local people but none questioned the efforts of the rescuers. But all of them were worried over the scarcity of equipment and technologies. It is not confirmed how fruitful it would have been had the expert rescuers from abroad come to the place of collapse. But if the report of the government's rejection was true, then it is certainly unfortunate. This proves the government's diplomatic naivety. This is because, the common people and the relatives of the dead and the survivors do not always expect miracles to happen. What they expected are recovery of bodies not decomposed, easy to recognise them. Expert rescuers know very well the techniques to recover the survivors and when infrastructures collapse whether from an earth tremor or another cause, they know how to pull people out alive. Mark Doyle, an analyst of BBC spoke of the incidents of Haiti and Japan where they accepted foreign assistance at the time of earthquake and tsunami. In fact, hundreds of rescuers converged on Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and also Japan, a far richer country, accepted substantial help after its earthquake and tsunami in 2011. If foreign rescuers were to be deployed then it would have been more focused in international media and would be a wakeup call for the non-compliant factory owners. Bangladesh is a garment exporting country with the lowest wage rate roughly around 40 USD per month at a time when the factory owners are substantially wealthy.
It is actually very tough to take decision when to stop looking for a few remaining trapped people and concentrate resources on the survivors. The media always create a pressure on the government and so do the relatives of the affected. According to a BBC report, the average time for the switch is between five and seven days, but individuals have been known to survive as long as 13 days of being trapped if they have access to water. Usually, the co-coordinating rescue team, the UN and the host country take the decision of stopping the rescue operation.
The huge casualties under 'Rana Plaza' are a real tragedy, not merely an accident. Lax regulation, ineffective labour union and utter negligence of the blue-collar workers contributed to this mishap. The apparels industry, worth 19 billion USD, stands on the contribution of almost four million workers, most of whom are women. But it is observed that no authority including the government and the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association has a good level of attention for the safety and well-being of these workers. And lastly, it is proved that the government and also the private sector lack adequate and suitable equipment to face such a tragic situation. To our utter shock, every year the government fails to raise targeted income from tax due to rampant corruption of its officials but there is no money enough to arrange equipment for rescue operations. It is unfortunate.
[The Financial Express/Views & Previews/May 10, 2013]
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It IS a tragedy that international help was not welcomed. Unlike in an earthquake disaster, all the efforts of the international community could have been concentrated on this single disaster site, with the result that perhaps hundreds more people could have been found and rescued alive. Instead, many parties must share responsibility for this tragedy, not least the national government of Bangladesh for refusing the offer of international assistance.
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