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Economics for Managers (ECO401)

An Assignment on

Victims and present scenario of Rana Plaza Tragedy

Submitted to: Proffesor Dr. Muhammad Mahboob Ali Daffodil International University

Submitted by: Dipok Chondraw Ray ID: 142-14-1506

Date of Submission: 26.03.2015

THE TRAGEDY

Rana Plaza Collapse: Death of A Thousand Dreams

The tragedy of the building collapse on 24th April 2013 in Savar, is one the whole world will remember. Situated under the jurisdiction of Savar Police Station on the east of Savar bus-stand in Savar, Dhaka, the eight-storied building Rana Plaza collapsed at 8:58 am on that day. The building contained five garment factories where almost 5000 workers were employed. According to Odhikar statistics, 1131 amongst them lost their lives while around 2438 could be rescued, however badly injured. Most of them were garments workers. The government claimed that 1115 bodies have been recovered and 2438 people have been rescued with injuries. Till 19th June 2013 after being rescued, 16 injured workers expired at various hospitals while under treatment. In this incident five garment factories, a bank, ATM booths of the bank, a company, a market and the parking space, all in the Rana Plaza, were destroyed.Right after the collapse, members of the Bangladesh Army, Fire Service and Civil Defence, Police, BGB, pedestrians and also members of various social welfare organisations had begun rescue operations. They also helped the injured to various hospitals, delivered dead bodies to the relatives, arranged for the burial of unidentified bodies and financially helped the affected.It was learnt during the fact finding mission that in the morning of 23rd April 2013, three pillars of the factory in front of the cutting section (middle of the building) had two-inch deep cracks. Hearing this news, local journalists came to Rana Plaza. The buildings security guards did not allow journalists to enter under the instructions of the building owner, Sohel Rana. A local engineer, Abdur Razzak, visited the place of occurrence and opined that the building was vulnerable. He also suggested that the building be immediately inspected by engineers from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and Rajdhani Unnoyan Kortipokkho (RAJUK). Hearing this, the owner of the building, Sohel Rana, who is also a Jubo League8 leader, came to the place and said that a crack in the building was not a hazard. He told the journalists not to report it. That day, the owners of five garment factories declared their factories closed. On 24th April 2013, workers refused to work in the vulnerable building. It is alleged that, Sohel Rana was present at his office situated in the basement of the building and he was taking initiatives to bring people to work in order to defy the hartal that day, which had been called by the BNP; and for organising an anti-hartal procession. During this time, hearing of the refusal of workers to enter the building, Sohel Rana and the owners of the factories came out and forced the workers to enter the workplace.The building collapsed at 8.58 in the morning; and Sohel Rana was trapped in the basement. He was rescued by his men and escaped with the help of Member of Parliament and Awami League leader, Talukder Mohammad Touhid Jong Murad (popularly known as Murad Jong). It was learnt that on April 24, an anti-hartal procession led by Murad Jong was supposed to be brought out from Rana Plaza.

About Sohel RanaThe son of Abdul Khalek and Morjina Begum, Sohel Rana was born in Joymondob village under the jurisdiction of Shingair Police Station in the district of Manikganj. Abdul Khalek was once a petty trader who would sell oil on the ferryboats. He moved to Savars Moddhapara and continued the same trade. Rana studied till the eighth grade in Odhor Chandra Model High School. He became involved at a young age with a local gang of miscreants, the Rajib-Shamar Bahini.In the year 2000, Sohel Rana joined the Bangladesh Chhatra League17. In 2004 he was elected the Chhatra Leagues General Secretary of Savar Municipality. His father, Abdul Khalek was a dedicated activist of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in Savar. On 29th December 2008 in the national election, Murad Jong became the Member of Parliament from the 19th constituency, representing the 14 party grand alliances (led by the Bangladesh Awami League). At one point when Sohel Rana was on good terms with Murad Jong, upon his orders, Sohel Rana was made the Joint Convener of Jubo League18 of Savar. Having the full support of Murad Jong, Sohel Rana established supremacy in the area and got involved in criminal acts. His gang was involved in drug dealing, theft, robbery, extortion at industrial organisations and allegedly even murder. Rana was also involved in forcefully taking possession of land that belonged to members of the Hindu community. He got away with crime due to Murad Jongs protection. In a very short period of time, Sohel Rana and his father Abdul Khalek became very affluent people.

On 28th April 2013, Sohel Rana was arrested from Benapole, Jessorewhile escaping to India Photo collected from social mediaNumber of Workers in the Factories of Rana Plaza

FactoryNumber of Workers*

New Wave Style Ltd.1165

New Wave Bottom Ltd.452

Phantom Apparels Ltd.438

Phantom Tac Ltd.254

Ether Tex Ltd.450

Total2759

Position of Workers in the Factories of Rana Plaza

Grade

Factory-wise Number of Workers

New WaveNew Wave BottomPhantom

PhantomEther

Style Ltd.Ltd.Apparels Ltd.

Tac Ltd.Tex Ltd.

1226-

-1

2411

-1

3223185

681

443217398

145235

55830-

--

73806982

17-

Other24717072

24212

Total Workers1165452438

254450

Missing Workers

A large number of workers are missing since the Rana Plaza incident. According to the official estimates, a total of 332 workers who were employed in these factories have not been identified. Relatives of the missing workers have authenticated documents such as payslip, appointment letter, ID cards, etc. in support of their identification. Among the missing workers, 233 are female (70.8 per cent), and 99 are male (29.8 per cent). Similar to the deceased workers, majority of these missing workers are from Dhaka division (131) followed by Rajshahi (58), Rangpur (56) and Khulna (39) divisions (Table 3). As per the information, these workers are almost equally distributed to different age-brackets from 15 to 30 years (Table 4). According to different newspaper reports, a total of 234 unidentified dead bodies have been buried from which 200 samples were collected for DNA test. Hence, some of these missing workers might have been among these 234 unidentified workers, even though another 98 workers remained untraced. Families of these missing workers have been greatly distressed.

Division-wise Distribution of the 332 Missing Workers

DivisionMaleFemaleTotal

Barisal81927

Chittagong178

Dhaka4487131

Khulna122739

Rajshahi154358

Rangpur144256

Sylhet369

Not Found224

Total99233332

Injured Workers

According to the information from the Enam Medical College and Hospital (EMCH), a total of 1,800 workers have taken primary treatment there, of which 1,000 workers were released within a week. Among the rest, another 700 were released within one to two months. A total of 34 injured workers who needed special treatment were shifted to Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), Savar Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and Orthopaedic Hospital, Dhaka.

Concerns Regarding Seriously Injured Workers

There were a total of 339 seriously injured workers, as mentioned earlier, sustaining severe injuries in their hands, legs and backs, and a number of them were traumatised. Information of 52 injured workers (mostly injured seriously) collected in early May 2013 revealed that each of them received about Tk. 47,827 on average from three sources (District Commissioner (DC) office, Prime Ministers Office and private sources) (Table 8). These workers received financial benefit as well as medical treatment free of cost. There had been some allegations about wrong treatment in some instances. However, the fact remains that most of these workers, despite getting the treatment, might permanently or partially lose their capability to do heavy works, particularly in labour-driven industrial operation. Thus, a large number of efficient and productive workers have turned into unemployed and would perhaps become dependent on their families. Without proper support, these workers would become a burden to their families.

Compensation for the 52 Injured Workers (as of May 2013)GenderNumber of

Compensation (in Tk.)

Workers

DC OfficePrime MinisterPrivate

Male221,10,0002,10,0006,20,000

(5,000)(9,545)(28,182)

Female301,25,0002,70,00011,52,000

(4,167)(9,000)(38,400)

Total522,35,0004,80,00017,72,000

(4,519)(9,231)(34,077)

INTERVIEWSMosammat Karina Akhter (22)Mosammat Karina Akhter is the wife of garment worker Md. Israfil. She toldOdhikar that her husband worked on the 2nd floor of Rana Plaza for New WaveBottoms Limited. On 24th April 2013 Md. Israfil went to work at 7:30 in themorning. After the tragic incident, Israfil could not be traced for 15 days. On 9th May 2013 she heard that her husbands body had been found in Odhor Chandra School field in Savar. While taking the body away, she received a compensation of Taka 20,000/- from the District Commissioner. However after that she received no other financial help. She is unemployed and has a two year old son.

Md. Amjad Hossain (22), injured worker, Phantom Apparels LimitedMd. Amjad Hossain informed Odhikar that his hometown is in the Ulipur upazila of Kurigram. For the last four months he has been working as a mechanic in Phantom Apparels Limited. He joined work at around 8:15 am on 24th April 2013. At 8:58 am, when a concrete slab fell on his legs, he lost consciousness. After he regained consciousness, he saw that he was in Dhaka Medical College Hospital. However after three days he was transferred to Apollo Hospital. Both his legs had to be amputated in order to save his life. He was then brought to the Centre for the Rehabilitation of Paralyzed (CRP) on 23rd May 2013. He is admitted there now, in cabin no. 107 and under treatment. Amjad Hossain complained that other than medical treatment, he has received no monetary compensation.

Mohammad Amjad Hossain, whose legs had to be amputated, at CRP, Savar Photo Odhikar

Shutlal Das, husband of missing Dolly Rani Das, Village: Bilpul, Police Station: Shalla, ShunamganjShutlal Das informed Odhikar that his wife Dolly Rani Das worked in New WaveBottoms Limited on the 2nd floor of Rana Plaza. His wife went to the factory ataround 8:00 in the morning on 24th April 2013. After the collapse, her whereabouts are still unknown and her body cannot be traced.For the purpose of identifying the body, his brother in law Utpol Das gave a blood sample to the Dhaka Medical College for DNA test on 12th May 2013. Shutlal Das filed a General Dairy (GD) at Savar Police Station (GD number was 1285, dated 24/05/2013) with regard to his missing wife. He complained that he had not received any compensation as yet.

Lutfar Rahman (21), injured worker, New Wave Style LimitedLutfar Rahman informed Odhikar that he belonged to the Malgram area of Bogra district, and lives in a rented house at Savar. He had been working in the button section of New Wave Style Limited in the 6th floor of Rana Plaza for 2 years and 3 months. He went to the factory at 8:00 am on 23rd April 2013. At around 9:40 am he heard that cracks could be seen on the pillars in the 2nd floor of the building. Robiul Hossain, who was the mechanic-in-charge then declared leave and asked everyone to exit the premises. Robiul Hossain mentioned that the workers would have to return after lunch. After lunch, the workers returned to the factory. Lutfar Rahman observed that a few journalists, along with many others were in front of the building. The Managing Director of the factory, Mahmudur Rahman Taposh told the workers that they could have the day off and return on 24th April 2013. On 24th April 2013, around 400 women and 200 men started working in the factory from 8:00 in the morning. At 8:57 am there was a power cut and thus at 8:58 am, generators were turned on at every floor of the building. He said that there was acutting section on the west side of the factory, in the middle was the sewing section and on the east was a button section. When a cracking noise was heardnear the cutting section, the workers rushed towards the east. He saw the middle of the 6th floor collapse. When all the workers rushed to the east side, the building tilted towards the south. He was near a window and jumped out and fell on the roof of a warehouse. Then locals took him to Savar Lab Zone Specialised Hospital.

Md. Ali BadhshahMd. Ali Badhshah was the owner of shops 50 and 51 on the ground floor of RanaPlaza. He informed Odhikar that he had initially paid an advance of Taka 500,000/- and paid Taka 10,000/- per month as rent on the two shops, together called J&K Zone, that sold clothes. On 23rd April 2013, workers, with the use of megaphones, had warned everyone of the cracks that could be seen on the 3rd floor of the building. Thereafter some garment factories declared work closed for the day. However Ali Badhshah was informed on behalf of the owner of the building, that the cracks signified no risks at all. At 8:00 pm he closed the shop and went home. On 24th April 2013 at 8:30 in the morning, he went to Rana Plaza along with his employees Imon Saha, Tauhid Bin Fahad and Laila Akhter. He observed that in order to protest against the hartal that BNP had called, Awami League activists had gathered near Rana Plaza and factory owners were forcing workers to go inside the factory. Tauhid Murad Jong was present there with his car, amongst the activists. Just when he was heading towards the building, he heard a loud cracking noise and the building collapsed in front of him. Hundreds were stuck inside the building, shouting and crying for help. The locals moved forward to rescue them. After around 20 minutes, Sohel Rana got out of the basement and climbing into Murad Jongs car.

References http://odhikar.org/broken-dreams-a-report-on-the-rana-plaza-collapse-2/http://cpd.org.bd/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/100-Days-of-Rana-Plaza-Tragedy-A-Report-on-Commitments-and-Delivery.pdfhttps://www.google.com.bd/