Dr. Matiur Rahman & Shishir Reza :
One after another unexpected and terrible fire accidents are taking place in Bangladesh. People and resources are burnt to ashes in those fires. When people are dying, there is a lot of uproar. Discussions are taking place all over the country, there is criticism, everyone is moving, the authorities are looking for a way out, there is a committee of inquiry, they are submitting a report, making promises and then all are quiet. Again, when there is another fire accident in a place, the cause of the fire is analyzed. The same scenario we are noticing. People are burning in fire in Nimtali, Chawkbazar, FR Tower, Tazrin factory, Moghbazar and so on and then Shezan Juice factory. But less visible actions are taking by the concerned authorities.
There is a law in the country that every factory should have adequate doors and wide stairs. There should be a sufficient number of fire exits to quickly exit from the upper floors of the building. Not only that there should have adequate fire extinguisher facilities. But many factories are not following the law. Though some factories are found obey the law, but not fully. In this case, the responsibility for death due to negligence also falls on the factory owners. Even the authorities that are supposed to enforce the law cannot avoid responsibility.
Criticism is also about the equipment used in firefighting. At the moment more modernization of fire service system is needed. The first important thing in firefighting is to ensure the adequacy of water. But in most of the major fires in our country, water supply has been limited. Therefore, installation of fire hydrant can be an effective initiative in case of fire.
It is very important to install fire hydrants (specially pumped water pipes used for firefighting) at different risky points in case of need for quick water supply for any fire accident. Because, fire hydrant is a connecting pipe to collect water from the main source. Water can be used from this source for any important need. The biggest advantage of this is that water can be supplied at any distance with the help of long pipes. In addition, the supply of water is very effective in densely populated areas where fire trucks cannot easily enter. It is a type of roadside water tap or high capacity pump from where water can be used when needed.
Another measure can be taken to control the fire. Building insurance should be mandatory for every registered factory. This compulsory insurance can also be added for large bank loans. Necessary building facilities and maintenance rules can be added as a condition of this insurance policy to get bank loans. The building must be insured by an insurance company and the building safety inspection information must be displayed. Insurance companies will regularly pay a visit to inspection and maintenance of these buildings in their own interest. Insurance companies regularly report their inspections to the concerned authority. The insurance company and regulatory authorities will properly monitor to prevent any ‘fraud’ in this regard.
The bottom line is that fire can hurt insurance companies, so it’s important for insurance company to take action. Again, since the amount of insurance premium will depend on fire risk, building owners will also be alert to reduce the risk. If this method is first introduced in the case of large factories, then may be it can be applied for all small, medium factories and residential buildings.
We should actually be more careful about fire. Disaster preparedness in our country is very inadequate, especially in case of fire accident. We need to be more prepared for firefighting, evacuation and emergency rescue operations. Fire only knows how to burn. The fire is so one-sided that nothing is left, including life and property. Therefore, sufficient measures should to be taken to ensure that people are not burning by fire. People should also be aware about fire accident. The unexpected fire accidents must be stopped now.
(Dr. Matiur is Research Consultant, Human Development Research Centre and Shishir Reza is Environmental Analyst & Associate Member, Bangladesh Economic Association)
