A PARLIAMENTARY watchdog on Thursday asked the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority to set up necessary number of fire hydrants in Dhaka city to fight fire incidents. The directives of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Disaster Management and Relief Affairs Ministry came against the backdrop of Thursday’s Banani fire that killed 25 people along with injuring 75 others. “Officials of WASA who were present at the meeting assured the committee that they will take immediate measures to establish fire hydrants in Dhaka,” a committee member said.
At least 1,590 people were killed in about 16,000 incidents of fire across the country in the last 10 years. In the case of little fire, a small quantity of water could douse the flame. But in the case of inferno, it needs bulk water. The water carrying vehicles of Fire Service and Civil Defence often cannot fulfil the demand in comparison to vast necessity. On the other hand, there is apparently no pond, waterbody or reservouir in the city from where the demand of water could be met in emergency. So, need of water during fire incident remains an important issue for all time.
We think, the fire hydrants will help fire fighters to work skillfully in the case of big fire. But for this, RAJUK and FSCD would have to determine where and how these would be set up. Besides, the category of fire hydrant would have to be determined on the basis buildings in a particular area. That means, the type of hydrant constructed at high-rise zone Motijheel would not be similar to those set up at congested areas like Mirpur-11. But the authorities must not forget that fire hydrants would not yield any good if these are set up in an unplanned way.
Usually fire poses the greatest risk in Dhaka due to congested roads, closely packed buildings, narrow lanes and a general lack of awareness of fire hazards. These make citizens more at risk of death and injury by fire than any other. Apart from this, the FSCD also need sophisticated firefighting equipment to tackle the fires at high-rise buildings. We must say, government should take the fire issue seriously.
At least 1,590 people were killed in about 16,000 incidents of fire across the country in the last 10 years. In the case of little fire, a small quantity of water could douse the flame. But in the case of inferno, it needs bulk water. The water carrying vehicles of Fire Service and Civil Defence often cannot fulfil the demand in comparison to vast necessity. On the other hand, there is apparently no pond, waterbody or reservouir in the city from where the demand of water could be met in emergency. So, need of water during fire incident remains an important issue for all time.
We think, the fire hydrants will help fire fighters to work skillfully in the case of big fire. But for this, RAJUK and FSCD would have to determine where and how these would be set up. Besides, the category of fire hydrant would have to be determined on the basis buildings in a particular area. That means, the type of hydrant constructed at high-rise zone Motijheel would not be similar to those set up at congested areas like Mirpur-11. But the authorities must not forget that fire hydrants would not yield any good if these are set up in an unplanned way.
Usually fire poses the greatest risk in Dhaka due to congested roads, closely packed buildings, narrow lanes and a general lack of awareness of fire hazards. These make citizens more at risk of death and injury by fire than any other. Apart from this, the FSCD also need sophisticated firefighting equipment to tackle the fires at high-rise buildings. We must say, government should take the fire issue seriously.
