Special Correspondent :
Breach of Bangladesh National Building Code, Fire Protection Act and poor oversight from regulatory authorities have made the Dhaka city fire prone requiring immediate government response.
A series of fire incidents claimed many lives in the past 10 years.
A 22-storey commercial building at Banani caught fire on Thursday, leaving 25 people dead and 100 more injured.
The FR Tower was built violating the building code and it was merely equipped with emergency exists and fire fighting equipments, fire service officials said.
Forty days ago, the city experienced a major fire incident, which left 70 people dead.
Prior to Chawkbazar inferno, at least 123 people died in Nimtoli tragedy.
“Increasing number of deaths in fire incidents people across the city has jerked all. But so serious effort is in sight to check such incident,” Architect Mobasher Hossain, former president of Institute of Architects, told The New Nation yesterday.
He said unplanned urbanization and lack of proper enforcement of laws are making city buildings fire prone. Even the builders are frequently breaching national building code and fire safety
act due to lack of proper monitoring from the authorities concerned.
“We have to take an immediate national level action plan to deal with the situation. The regulatory bodies should take proactive measures for enforcing building codes and fire safety regulation properly in every high-rise buildings in city,” said Mobasher Hossain.
When asked, he said, the regulatory bodies cannot escape their responsibility in major fire incidents in Dhaka. If their oversight was careful, no such fire incident could have taken place.
He also urged for tough actions against the builders who have violated building codes.
For building safety, experts said, the role of RAJUK is vital because it is the main authority for the approval of constructing building in the capital. But the organisation turned dysfunctional as it was plagued by corruption.
Builders frequently passed of their building designs through illegal means compromising safety and security.
Experts opine that corruption in RAJUK must be uprooted for ensuring safety in the city buildings. RAJUK should also strictly monitor construction of high-rise buildings in the city to address the growing problem for the safety of the city residents.
“Residential and commercial buildings continue to grow at a high rate that makes it impossible for many departments to serve those additional needs. We cannot continue to do more with less. We need enough manpower and necessary logistics to do the job in a safe and appropriate manner,” a senior Fire Department official told The New Nation on condition of anonymity.
As per the rules, all buildings, including the commercial and residential, must have adequate fire-fighting equipment and ensure measures of public security.
The existing rules also made it mandatory for building owners to keep at least two fire extinguishers on every floor of a building while keeping hydrant point, water reservoir and a tank on the rooftop, which would always contain a certain quantity of water.
But, most of the high-rise commercial and residential buildings have been built in Dhaka violating the rules. Lack of proper monitoring has been blamed for the situation, which posed a great threat to public life.
Breach of Bangladesh National Building Code, Fire Protection Act and poor oversight from regulatory authorities have made the Dhaka city fire prone requiring immediate government response.
A series of fire incidents claimed many lives in the past 10 years.
A 22-storey commercial building at Banani caught fire on Thursday, leaving 25 people dead and 100 more injured.
The FR Tower was built violating the building code and it was merely equipped with emergency exists and fire fighting equipments, fire service officials said.
Forty days ago, the city experienced a major fire incident, which left 70 people dead.
Prior to Chawkbazar inferno, at least 123 people died in Nimtoli tragedy.
“Increasing number of deaths in fire incidents people across the city has jerked all. But so serious effort is in sight to check such incident,” Architect Mobasher Hossain, former president of Institute of Architects, told The New Nation yesterday.
He said unplanned urbanization and lack of proper enforcement of laws are making city buildings fire prone. Even the builders are frequently breaching national building code and fire safety
act due to lack of proper monitoring from the authorities concerned.
“We have to take an immediate national level action plan to deal with the situation. The regulatory bodies should take proactive measures for enforcing building codes and fire safety regulation properly in every high-rise buildings in city,” said Mobasher Hossain.
When asked, he said, the regulatory bodies cannot escape their responsibility in major fire incidents in Dhaka. If their oversight was careful, no such fire incident could have taken place.
He also urged for tough actions against the builders who have violated building codes.
For building safety, experts said, the role of RAJUK is vital because it is the main authority for the approval of constructing building in the capital. But the organisation turned dysfunctional as it was plagued by corruption.
Builders frequently passed of their building designs through illegal means compromising safety and security.
Experts opine that corruption in RAJUK must be uprooted for ensuring safety in the city buildings. RAJUK should also strictly monitor construction of high-rise buildings in the city to address the growing problem for the safety of the city residents.
“Residential and commercial buildings continue to grow at a high rate that makes it impossible for many departments to serve those additional needs. We cannot continue to do more with less. We need enough manpower and necessary logistics to do the job in a safe and appropriate manner,” a senior Fire Department official told The New Nation on condition of anonymity.
As per the rules, all buildings, including the commercial and residential, must have adequate fire-fighting equipment and ensure measures of public security.
The existing rules also made it mandatory for building owners to keep at least two fire extinguishers on every floor of a building while keeping hydrant point, water reservoir and a tank on the rooftop, which would always contain a certain quantity of water.
But, most of the high-rise commercial and residential buildings have been built in Dhaka violating the rules. Lack of proper monitoring has been blamed for the situation, which posed a great threat to public life.
