Chemical shops in space allocated for parking

At least one-third of the basements of buildings in areas under the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) are used as shops and markets for commercial purposes.

This information came up in an inspection of the RAJUK recently. This has increased the risk of accidents like the blast in Siddique Bazar, experts said.

Following a blast in a seven storied building in Siddique Bazar on 7 March, RAJUK decided to inspect the basements of the buildings in areas under its jurisdiction. As per the decision, the RAJUK inspected only the buildings with a basement. However, all the buildings with a basement did not come under inspection.

That seven storey building in Siddique Bazar had approval for a five storey building. It is assumed that the blast originated from gas accumulated in the basement of the building.

The total area under the RAJUK' jurisdiction is 1,528 square kilometres. The entire area is divided into eight zones. Following a RAJUK office order, 24 committees, three in each zone, were formed. These committees inspected the houses in areas under RAJUK from 10 March to 23 March and submitted a report on 30 March.

According to that report, the RAJUK officials inspected some 2,204 buildings. They have found that, basements of 750 of those houses are not used as parking. The inspection committee found shops and warehouses in basements of 683 buildings. They also found shops of flammable chemicals in basements. However, they couldn’t confirm the number of buildings with shops of flammable chemicals.

Asked about this, Sheikh Muhammad Mehedi Ahsan, general secretary of Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), told Prothom Alo, “As per the rules of RAJUK, basements can be used as parking mainly. However, in many buildings in the city, basements are used as warehouses. Therefore, a small accident can go beyond control within seconds in these basements. This could affect the traders, the people living in a building and the customers.”

“So, instead of inspections only, the RAJUK should take stern action against the building owners in case of any irregularity. Only inspections will not come to any work,” he added.

That building in Siddique Bazar, which was damaged in an explosion originated from gas accumulated in the basement, is located in the zone no. 5 of RAJUK. The inspection committee has visited a total of 403 buildings in this zone and 179 of them had shops of flammable materials, warehouses and even markets in the basements.

The number of buildings using basements for commercial purposes is the highest in zone no. 7 (Old Dhaka and Jurain area). The RAJUK officials inspected some 286 buildings in this area and found 241 buildings where the basement is used for commercial purposes.

Speaking regarding the initiatives taken by the RAJUK to prevent commercial use of basements, RAJUK’s authorised officer Makid Hasan told Prothom Alo, “We haven’t received any regarding the next course of action from the RAJUK as yet.”

On condition of anonymity, another authorised officer of RAJUK said a meeting would be held in this regard very soon. The next course of action would be fixed in the meeting.”

The RAJUK is yet to find the design of the building in Siddique Bazar, which was damaged in an explosion. Of those 2,204 buildings, which came under RAJUK inspection, owners of as many as 1,944 buildings could not show the design of their buildings to the members of the inspection team immediately. Designs of only 260 buildings were readily available. Now the RAJUK has decided to ask the owners for the design of their buildings.

Earlier, in March 2019, the RAJUK inspected the high rise buildings in areas under its jurisdiction following the fire at the FR Tower in Banani. During the inspection, RAJUK found a total of 1,818 high rise buildings and 84 per cent of them were built defying the main design. Some 70 per cent of those buildings did not have any proper fire extinguishing system.

Speaking regarding this to Prothom Alo, RAJUK director (Development Control – 1), “The building owners will be given notice for submitting the design of their buildings. The designs of the buildings will confirm the usage of the basements in a specific building as approved by the RAJUK.”

*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu