**6. Unsafe conditions and earthquake disaster**

Unsafe conditions are the specific forms in which the vulnerability of a population is expressed in time and space in conjunction with a hazard. Examples include people having to live in hazardous locations, the weak pattern/structure of the house, aged and dilapidated buildings, narrow staircases, house building materials, building without fire protection, hazardous chemical industries, and residential use in others [10]. The unsafe conditions also involve congested electric wares with buildings, lack of required open spaces, overcrowded high density of population, and lack of enforcement of the law [15]). Rahman et al. [5] found that having to engage in dangerous livelihoods such as prostitution, gambling with its attendant health risks, or having minimal food entitlements poor sanitation, lack of preservation of boiled drinking water, and keeping telephone number of govt. or non-govt. emergency center, the pattern of the weak drainage system, and insufficient first aid equipment e.g., helmet, torch, and radio have a strong connection with the creation of unsafe conditions of vulnerability [16]. It is important to consider the pattern of access to tangible resources (e.g., cash, shelter, food stocks, agricultural equipment) and intangible resources (networks of support, knowledge regarding survival and sources of assistance, morale, and the ability to function in a crisis) [10]. In this sense, an in-depth interviewee illustrated the following story.

*"Most dangerous thing is that maximum tanneries do not have the proper drainage system of their toxic wastages. Moreover, most of them are kept uncovered here. I am afraid thinking of that if these poisons leak out on the ground due to the earthquake tremor, it will cause extremely hazardous living conditions for the people as the whole area will be enormously contaminated. (A 45-year-old-male, own translation).*

In line with the previous interview, another in-depth interview informant added the following issues:

*"As the people in this area are comparatively poor, they build their housing in such a way so that they can collect rent from the people. The house owners do not intend to let City Corporation to have enough place for road construction; as a result, the road pattern remains very narrow here". (A 45-Year-old male, own translation).*

Few FGD participants echoed the statement of the previous in-depth interviewee. They said that the authority of *RAJUK* had never come to them. They have neither any idea about *RAJUK* policy nor about following the proper guidelines of *RAJUK/*Government. One participant said that even though there is any regulation from RAJUK/Government authority they do not abide by these regulations specifically in the tannery industry. Tannery industries are, undoubtedly, posing an

#### **Figure 4.**

*Unsafe conditions of vulnerability. (Source: Authors' framework, 2022).*

environmental threat in the area as well as, causing health hazards among the people*.* In this connection, a tannery owner stated the following case.

*"During the initial stages of this industry, we did not follow the Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) process. As a result, huge amounts of toxic liquid wastage have been discharged into the rivers, canals, and ponds that run alongside the road, followed by uncovered drains. Recently, the Government of Bangladesh decided to relocate the tannery industry from Hazaribagh to the city outskirts called Savar. Hence, we have to buy most of the machines for Savar anew. A huge amount of money is required to build new buildings which we lack at the moment. Moreover, mortgaging the tanneries to banks for the loan has prompted several complexities to relocate the industry (A 67-year-old male, own translation).*

Focusing on the previous statement, one FGD participant stated that on a rainy day the road is drowned with the dirty color water from the tannery, and water logging arises this day. The participants of the 2nd FGD told that most of the drains are interrupted for wastage of tanning industries before following into the canal. The association between unsafe conditions and the progression of earthquake hazards has been developed relying on the current perceptions of the people involved with the research. The diagram revealed that factors of unsafe conditions are closely connected with the earthquake hazards in the studied area (**Figure 4**).
