Tourism without rules

The charred remains of Tuptup Resto and Resort at Inani on Saturday should shame everyone responsible for regulating tourism. At least 10 people, mostly holidaymakers from Dhaka, died when fire swept through the wood-and-bamboo building off Marine Drive. Six belonged to one family; four others were found in two toilets on the third floor. The resort had no fire service licence and, according to the Fire Service, no extinguishers or alarms. It had been inspected in June and warned about fire risks, yet kept taking guests. The nearest fire station was 22 kilometres away.
None of this was unforeseeable. Fires at resorts on Saint Martin's Island in January 2025 and on the Cox's Bazar beachfront in May this year caused no reported deaths, which was luck rather than design. A notice without consequences is merely a suggestion, and the Fire Service chief himself acknowledged limitations in existing laws and monitoring, adding that many wooden resorts lack permissions. Parts of the Cox's Bazar coast, Inani among them, are ecologically critical, which makes the free hand given to flammable construction there doubly indefensible.
The same indifference is visible near the Sundarbans. The Department of Environment has ordered 24 resorts in Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira to close and remove their structures within 30 days, saying they operate without environmental clearance inside the ecologically critical area around the forest. The Water Development Board alleges encroachment on embankment land, while the Forest Department says it cannot control resorts on private land. Experts warn that noise, lighting and waste washed into canals can disturb wildlife in an ecosystem that a Khulna University scholar calls more sensitive than Saint Martin's, where resorts and cottages run into the hundreds despite protected status since 1989.
Owners argue that their resorts stand on private land, create jobs and support community tourism, and their plea for clear guidelines is reasonable. But livelihoods cannot excuse lawless building. The country needs one transparent licensing process in which environmental clearance and fire certification are preconditions for trading; limits on combustible construction; impact and carrying-capacity assessments before approval; joint inspections with the power to seal premises; and fire stations within reach of tourist clusters. The detention of the Inani resort's manager is a start, but accountability must reach officials who let violations slide. A holiday should never cost lives, and a World Heritage forest should not pay for quick profit.