Staff Correspondent :
Following Friday morning’s earthquake, the Narayanganj District Administration, Fire Service and Civil Defence, and Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) on Saturday launched a joint operation to identify structurally compromised residential and commercial buildings and assess overall damage.
Newly appointed District Administrator Md. Raihan Kabir earlier convened an emergency meeting and formed a coordinated taskforce comprising officials from all three agencies.
Each inspection team includes an Executive Magistrate or UNO, a senior Fire Service officer, a search-and-rescue unit, NCC civil engineers and building inspectors, and representatives from the local police. The teams began inspections across high-risk locations at 10 a.m.
Citywide panic persisted throughout the day, prompting the District Administrator to personally visit quake-affected buildings in Siddhirganj. On Saturday afternoon, he inspected the Hira Jheel and Housing areas alongside officials from RAJUK, the Fire Service, and NCC.
The district administration has so far received at least 67 complaints involving cracked walls, tilted staircases, weakened columns, and partial collapses. A three-tier assessment system has been put in place to verify these issues.
On the first day, priority inspections targeted older and densely populated neighbourhoods, including Chashara, Tanbazar, Deovogh Baburail, Nawab Salimullah Road, Khanpur Hospital area, Gognagar-Shahibazar, Fatullah, and the Shimrail-Siddhirganj commercial belt.
These areas contain numerous unauthorized structures, age-weakened buildings, and vertical extensions added without proper planning. As one inspector noted, “Earthquakes simply expose the dangers that have long existed.”
According to district officials, at least 30 buildings have suffered moderate to severe cracking.
Nine structures show noticeable tilting in stairwells and columns. Eighteen older or semi-paved two-storey houses display major wall fissures.
In the Tanbazar-Deovogh area, six buildings have rebar corrosion so advanced that collapse is imminent without urgent intervention. Portions of three houses in Gognagar have already caved in.
The Fire Service identified potential gas leakage or electrical short-circuit risks in 14 buildings and recommended temporarily disconnecting utilities. NCC officials said their existing list of vulnerable structures is being updated in light of the new assessments.
Structural safety concerns in Narayanganj are longstanding. In 2023, NCC declared 42 buildings hazardous; only 12 were demolished, while 30 remain.
Many century-old properties, unauthorized constructions, and structures tied up in legal disputes continue to endanger residents.
Among these are the historic Dastagir Ahmed residence on Mathua Roy Road, the 120-year-old Sadhana Pharmacy building on Mohim Ganguli Road, and several ageing structures on Nitaiganj-BK Das Road.
Fire Service Deputy Director Abdullah Al Arefin said, “When construction deviates from approved plans, accidents become inevitable.
Oversight is the responsibility of NCC and RAJUK, while demolition decisions fall to the administration.”
Weak enforcement, owner influence, and jurisdictional disputes have left risks unaddressed for years, he added.
Under RAJUK’s Urban Resilience Project, a survey of more than 3,000 buildings identified eight structures in Narayanganj as “extremely hazardous,” most of them educational institutions-including Kadam Rasul College, Government Girls’ School, Government Women’s College, and Dolpara High School.
Despite clear warnings, unauthorized floor extensions continue in some locations.
After inspecting damaged properties in Siddhirganj, District Administrator Md. Raihan Kabir said, “We have so far confirmed damage in 25 buildings. However, complete data has not yet reached us, and the number is likely to increase.”
He added that one garment factory building has been confirmed damaged, and efforts are underway to contact other owners for accurate information.
The District Administrator also ordered the authorities of City School to demolish an unauthorized and structurally unsafe building within their premises.
