Livelihoods, dreams reduced to ashes

With her rickshaw-puller husband gone, survival became Renu Begum's only goal. Poverty forced her to leave Kishoreganj and move to Dhaka 25 years ago, clutching the hand of her seven-year-old son, Jahangir.

She found shelter in a slum in Bhasantek and worked as a day labourer in various sectors, slowly building a life with every hard-earned penny.

However, in 2019, her world was shattered when a fire tore through the slum, reducing everything she had built to ashes. Starting over again, she took out a loan, using her income along with a small contribution from her now-grown son, who works as a construction worker.

Over the years, she managed to buy two shanties in another slum nearby and rebuild her life. But disaster struck once more yesterday, as a fire ripped through the slum -- "Abuler Bosti" -- in the capital's Bhasantek area, turning her home to ashes again.

"Our life has once again been reduced to nothing but ashes. How will we survive now?" cried Renu, now over 50.

She and her son had managed to save some belongings when the fire started, only to have them stolen when they stepped away for a moment.

Renu is now terrified, unable to repay the Tk 30,000 she still owes from her previous debt.

Like Renu, many others in the slum have similar stories of losing their homes and everything they owned. The fire gutted at least 35 shanties before five fire engines brought it under control around 12:30pm.

When this correspondent visited the slum in the afternoon, residents were seen clearing the debris, some desperately searching through the ashes for valuables.

The slum was home to low-income workers -- garment workers, rickshaw pullers, hawkers, small shopkeepers, and house helps. Many were at work when the fire broke out, leaving them with nothing to save. No major casualties were reported.

Halima Begum and her family lost all 12 of their shanties in the fire. "The fire has left us under the open sky. Decades of hard work, gone in the blink of an eye," she said.

Like Renu, Halima also suffered in the 2019 fire, but this time, all her family members have been left homeless.

Another resident, Swapna Begum, a tailor, lost everything. Her fridge, TV, bed, clothes, and money -- everything she had worked for -- vanished before her eyes.

When she heard people screaming "Fire!" she grabbed her only child and ran out. "Not just my savings and belongings; the fire destroyed my dream," she said.

"I took a loan of Tk 85,000 and bought clothes worth Tk 60,000 for my business before Eid. Now, the fire has burned not only the clothes but also the remaining Tk 25,000," she added.

Shafia Begum, wife of Abul Hossain, ran a small grocery shop with her daughters -- Papia Akter and Meghla Akter -- after Abul had been on the run since the political changeover in August.

The family used the shop's income to cover the educational expenses of the two girls, both college students, but the fire burned it down, destroying goods worth around Tk 5 lakh. "My house, my livelihood -- I have nothing left," Shafia said.

Fire officials said the cause of the fire is still unknown and that they will launch a probe to determine what started it.