No implementation of the fire safety plans

The fire safety plan made by the owners before the construction of high-rise buildings remains unimplemented in most cases. Therefore, the owners don’t get the clearance from the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defence. Many don’t even bother to collect the clearance.

The design of a building needs the approval of the Rajhdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) before construction. A fire safety plan is required to design the building. This plan needs the approval of the fire service. The RAJUK only accepts appeals for the approval of designs which have the clearance of the fire service.

For instance, a clearance regarding the fire safety plan was collected from the fire service before the construction of the 14 storied Khwaja Tower in the capital’s Mohakhali. However, the building authorities didn’t implement that fire safety plan. The Fire Service and Civil Defence claim that Khwaja Tower didn’t get the approval from them.

Some three people were killed after a fire broke at the Khwaja Tower last October. There were offices of several internet service providers with key equipment installed inside the building. Internet service was affected due to this fire across the country.

According to the fire service, it has cleared some fire safety plans for the approval of design of 6,284 buildings. However, only 1,173 building authorities have applied for the fire safety-related performance certificate. However, only 484 buildings have been given the certificate.

According to the fire service officials, the owners have some extra costs in case of constructing a building ensuring fire-safety. First, it reduces the area of usable space. Second, they have to buy extra equipment to ensure safety from fire. Third, a group of trained up employees is needed to be hired to douse the blaze in case the building catches fire, which also adds to the cost. Therefore, most of the building owners are not that interested in leaving any space or bearing any additional cost to ensure fire safety.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Fire Service and Civil Defence director (operations and maintenance) Lt Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury said, "During drives, we found the owners not abiding by the rules in most cases. The fire service had the jurisdiction to impose fines and seal off buildings according to Fire Prevention and Extinguishing Act, 2003. However, now they have little scope to do that following the repletion of the concerned provision."

According to the fire service, they inspect a number of issues before providing the clearance, including the width of the road in front the building, implementation of the fire safety plan, alternative paths to get out of the building, whether there is any source nearby or not and whether there is enough space for a fire car to enter.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, a fire service official said the building owners don’t want to follow the rules as there is no implementation of the law.

The authorities of the Green Cottage on Bailey Road didn’t even bother about the fire safety issues. As many as 46 people were killed in a fire at that building in the capital’s Bailey Road area. Following that, the RAJUK, city corporations and police are conducting drives in different parts of the city.

Meanwhile, the fire service had formed a probe committee following the fire at Khwaja Tower in the capital’s Mohakhali. Senior official of Tejgaon fire station Nazim Uddin Sarker was one of the members of that probe committee.

He told Prothom Alo that Khwaja Tower didn’t have any fire safety clearance. However, they prepared a fire safety plan. However, they couldn’t implement the plan and as a result they were denied the clearance.

It has been learnt that the construction of the Khwaja Tower started in 2000. The authorities started renting different floors to various companies, including a number of internet service providers, some two years after the beginning of its construction. It hasn’t been possible to get the statement of the Khwaja Tower authorities regarding the fire safety clearance.

Some 54 people, including officials and workers, were killed in a fire at the factory of Hashem Foods in Rupganj. According to the fire service, the concerned authorities didn’t even have a fire safety plan.

The incidents of fire are on the rise in Dhaka. In all these cases of fire, it has been learnt the building was risky only after the death of so many people. The fire service claims that they had warned the building authorities in every case. It was the same in case of the Bailey Road fire.

As per the figures of the fire service, a total of 2,603 buildings in the capital are at risk of fire. Of the buildings, 1,106 are shopping complexes. The risky buildings include educational institutions, hospitals, residential buildings and media houses. This list of risky buildings has been prepared based on the inspections conducted between 2018 and 2023. However, not all the buildings in Dhaka are in the same state.

Several experts are saying that getting an occupancy certificate is one of the key specific steps in terms of building construction. It means the concerned authorities will inspect whether the building was constructed as per the approved plan before giving permission to use the building.

In most cases, rules are ignored while constructing the building. Therefore, the building owners usually don’t apply for the occupancy certificate.

They say the building owners may not abide by the rules. But the concerned government agency must implement the law in this regard. If they don’t do that, then it’s simply negligence.

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