BGMEA building demolition set to start tomorrow

The Dhaka city development authority Rajuk will start the demolition of the 15-storied BGMEA building in Hatirjheel on Wednesday.  

Rajuk Chairman Sayeed Noor Alam told The Business Standard on Tuesday night that Housing and Public Works Minister SM Rezaul Karim will inaugurate the demolition at 10am Wednesday. 

He said that some equipment including forklifts will be used to dismantle the building. 

"We think that it will take nearly six months for the demolition to be completed," said Sayeed Noor Alam.

Earlier, the government announced that the BGMEA building will be demolished by controlled explosion, but later the Rajuk decided to manually destroy the building. 

Four Star Group bagged the job to demolish the building through an open tender process by bidding Tk1.02 crore for the work.

On April 16 last year, the Rajuk took control of the building and sealed it off after the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) evacuated throughout that day.

The BGMEA constructed the building in 2006. Later, it was found that the building was built illegally.

Following a news report in 2010, a High Court bench issued a suo-moto rule on the authorities asking why the building should not be pulled down.

In 2011, the High Court ordered the government to demolish the building after finding that it was constructed violating laws meant to protect wetlands.

Terming the building a cancer in the Hatirjheel project, the High Court said in its verdict that if the building is not taken down immediately, it will have an adverse effect not only on the Hatirjheel but on the entire Dhaka city. 

On April 2, 2018, the Appellate Division declared that the building should be demolished by April 11, 2019 and took an undertaking from the BGMEA that it would not plead any further for time extensions.

The city witnessed the demolition of such a high-rise building 12 years ago when the Rangs Tower in the Tejgaon area was dismantled. Several workers died when some parts of the building collapsed during the demolition work.