AT LEAST 14 blasts in commercial and residential buildings in the past decade have left 90 people dead and hundred others maimed for life, but the authorities are yet to comprehensively investigate the cause of such explosions. After the Moghbazar building explosion in June 2022, a report of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said that 11 building explosions had taken palce since 2014 and they were triggered by gas as there was no presence of any external explosive substances on site. In the preliminary investigation on the building explosion in the Science Laboratory crossing on March 5, the explosives officials blamed gas but could not decisively establish the source of gas. After the building explosion at Siddique Bazar on March 8, agencies involved in rescue operation speculated that accumulated methane gas in the septic tank might have caused the explosion. The Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority managing director, however, rejected the speculation, saying that there is no concrete evidence to establish the connection. Neither the supply water agency nor any other utility services provider or city authorities either, however, tried to decisively establish the source of gas said to have caused the explosion.

In a decade, no authorities felt the need for the establishment of the cause of building explosion and this shows indifference and apathy towards the life of ordinary citizens. Experts have repeatedly emphasised the importance of comprehensive research on how gas accumulates to a hazardous level and establish the nature of the gas that has led to such high-impact explosion. While Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha insists that it does not investigate an explosion unless it is caused by gas accumulated in a septic tank, the Fire Service and Civil Defence Department said that such studies were the responsibility of utility service providers. It is important to identify the source of gas or any other factors that contribute to fire hazards. In a city with demonstrated poor maintenance of utility services, leaks from concealed gas lines, the accumulation of methane gas in septic tanks or overheating of refrigerators in buildings with little to no room for ventilation is, however, commonplace. The least the government could do is to acknowledge its negligence and initiate a comprehensive study to establish the cause of building explosion and work out policies to improve on fire safety standards.