Editorial
Preserving both heritage and lives
Govt intervention needed in public interest
Once again the collapse of a part of a building in the Shankharibazar locality of Old Dhaka has brought into the news the twin issues of the preservation of our cultural heritage as well as the government's duty to ensure that city dwellers can be safe in their homes.
Both issues, safety and heritage, need to be addressed at once, and both issues have been neglected by the authorities for far too long. We hope that it will not require any further incidents for the government to address the issue.
It seems to us that the first order of the day must be to take a survey of the heritage localities to ensure that we have the latest information at hand. Even if such surveys have been carried out in the past, there can be little doubt that they need to be updated, indeed that this kind of information gathering and analysis process should be a continuing one.
The survey should seek to determine which buildings are beyond repair and which are salvageable. That seems to us to be the primary question. The ones that are beyond repair and are a danger to health and safety must come down before disaster strikes. In cases where the building in question is a genuine heritage site perhaps thought might be given to preserving it, but not as a dwelling.
For the buildings that are viable, they need to be divided into heritage sites and ones that are not of any particular historical significance. The ones that fall into the latter category can be left to the judgment of the owners. The ones that are bona fide heritage sites should be preserved.
At all times the authorities need to consult and listen to the opinions of the homeowners and dwellers. Where buildings are required to be torn down for safety considerations, it goes without saying that compensation must be awarded to those affected.
Similarly for those that ought not to be torn down for reasons of heritage preservation, it is also appropriate to come up with some kind of compensatory scheme for the owners.
The key to the success of the process is full information and full consultation with the affected community. The government ought to take pro-active steps in this matter before it is too late.
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