A total of 46 persons were killed in a fire that raged through a building on Bailey Road. Could this accident have been avoided? And even if the fire did break out, why were there so many deaths? What can we do for the safety of the city’s residents? In an interview with Prothom Alo’s Sohrab Hassan, former director general of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan, (retd) answers these questions and more.
A total of 46 persons were killed in a fire that broke out in a building on Bailey Road in the capital. Who will take responsibility?
Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan (retd): Many buildings have cropped up all over Dhaka without adhering to the rules and regulations. If the building that caught fire on Bailey Road had a proper exit route, so many deaths wouldn’t have taken place. When the fire broke out downstairs, the people upstairs could have escaped through the exit. The risks are higher in markets and restaurants. So, one small flaw led to such huge losses. These are deaths due to negligence. It is a kind of murder.
Who will you hold responsible for so many accidents?
Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan (retd): Unplanned urbanisation and industrialisation is increasing the risks. A modern city has a hydrants system from where water is used to extinguish fires. The sources of water in Dhaka are very limited. Hydrants are a part of urban planning. In modern cities, large buildings even have their own fire fighting team, which we do not have.
The building had many restaurants, but no fire fighting system. The fire service issues three letters in this regard and even RAJUK issued an objection
Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan (retd): Unfortunately, a safety culture hasn’t been built up here. The owners somehow construct a building and rent it out. They do not bother to check whether it has any safety systems in place. There are several regulatory bodies to see whether the building code is being followed not. I feel it is not enough just to issue a notice or a warning. If anyone violates the law, legal action must be taken against them.
Has the fire service carried out its duty?
Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan (retd): The problem is that the fire service does not have the manpower required for building inspections and supervision. They do not have their own magistrate. They have to turn to the ministry. They often do not get the needed workforce even after asking for it.
Is this obstacle administrative or anything else?
Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan (retd): There are both legal and administrative obstacles. Many agencies are involved in building safety. There is RAJUK, the city corporation, the fire service. But they have separate laws and there is also a lack of coordination in their work. The fire service looks into the safety aspect. The city corporation provides trade licences. RAJUK checks whether the building code is being followed or not. The building owners try to manage each of these agencies in different ways. But the safety aspect remains ignored. Thousand of buildings have been built and are being built all over the country without informing the fire service.
So people will simply continue to die in such fires?
Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan (retd): No, why should that happen? Each and every accident is unfortunate. But these also provide an opportunity to earn experience. After the Tazreen and Rana Plaza incidents, huge changes were made in the garments sector under pressure from foreign buyers. Accidents still happen there, but the number of deaths have decreased. We can apply this experience in other sectors too.
There long has been talk of modernising the fire service. How far has it been modernized?
Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan (retd): The fire service carries out two types or work. Firstly rescue work when there is any accident. There is progress in this area. The firefighting team has displayed fairly good capacity in this regard, despite the lack of workforce. While the rescue team of the fire service is strong, the preventive wing is weak. The proposal made to reform the fire service has not been implemented as yet. This will not happen without political will. There is also inadequate budget and workforce in this sector. In developed countries one in every thousand persons is a trained fire fighter. We do not have that. An academy was supposed to have been created for the training of fire service personnel. That wasn’t been created either.
The problem lies in bureaucratic tangles. The committees are accountable to their respective ministries and submit their reports to them. The recommendations are not followed up
How can the lack of coordination among the regulatory bodies be addressed?
Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan (retd): There is no committee to coordinate among the agencies in charge of building safety. The organisations are accountable to their respective ministries. The senior officials of these bodies are here today, gone tomorrow. They are transferred to other ministries. As a result, many decisions simply remain hanging. In other countries, the fire service is considered an extremely powerful organisaton. They are allocated budget and workforce accordingly. They are provided training. If the incidence of fires is to be reduced, the fire service’s capacity and accountability both must be increased.
Work must be done in an integrated manner on the policy guidelines devised for the safety of the people. The lack of coordination can be resolved by means of digital communication. Every agency will be updated about the other agencies. Then they will get to know about the problems in the various buildings. If the problem is know, a solution can be found.
Several inquiry committees are formed after every incident, but it is said that the inquiry reports are never made public. Are the recommendations of the committees every actually implemented?
Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan (retd): Maybe all the reports are not published, but quite a few are. Some recommendations are also implemented. The problem lies in bureaucratic tangles. The committees are accountable to their respective ministries and submit their reports to them. The recommendations are not followed up. The agencies can’t function independently. If there is strong political will, then the accidents can be prevented or reduced.
After the Churihatta fire, a decision was taken to relocate all the chemical factories and warehouses from Old Dhaka. Why was that not done?
Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan (retd): I was the director general when the Churihatta fire took place. Many decisions were taken at the time. There was supposed to be coordination at the time between the concerned ministries – industries, local government, commerce, etc, but there are doubts as to how much of this was done. It can’t be justified by saying the businessmen were not interested. Punishment must be ensured against those not abiding by the law.
The issue of public safety cannot be viewed carelessly. If cases are lodged, there are then instances of punishment taking place. But the building owners cannot simply carry out their businesses for years while placing people at risk. If necessary a task force can be created and action taken against those violating the law. Their businesses must be shut down.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you too,
* This interview appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir