Risky Buildings, Fire Incidents

Call for strict enforcement of laws

12 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

The Prothom Alo organised a roundtable titled “Risky building, deadly blaze: Remedies” at its office in the city yesterday.Photo: STAR

Strict enforcement of laws related to urban plan and fire safety measures is a must to prevent loss of innocent lives in any further human tragedy, said experts at a roundtable in the city yesterday. They called upon the authorities concerned to retain the natural hydrant sources like ponds, canals, lakes and wetlands in the city to fight any devastating blaze in future. The Prothom Alo organised the roundtable titled “Risky building, deadly blaze: Remedies” at its office in the city. There are adequate legislations to prevent the fire incident like Nimtoli that claimed 119 lives, said Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury. "The laws related to building construction and fire safety are adequate," he said, adding, "What is missing is enforcement." He called for enforcement of building construction act, Bangladesh National Building Code, fire prevention act, building rules, Detailed Area Plan and Dhaka City Corporation ordinance. Most of the city buildings are non-engineered and of low quality construction, said Prof Shamimuzzaman Basunia of Buet civil engineering department. The buildings may collapse due to faulty design, earthquake and storms, he said. Prof Sarwar Jahan, president of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, said implementation of community-based planning is required for safety against hazards of building collapse and fire incident. Brig General Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said, "Chemical warehouses can no way run in a residential area." All the risky buildings, except the heritage ones, have to be identified and marked in an easily visible manner so that people do not use them, said Abdul Mannan, state minister for housing and public works. Md Nurul Huda, chairman of Rajdhani Unnyan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), said Rajuk is unable to properly implement the building rules and master plan with inadequate manpower and logistics in a 1530-square kilometre city of 1.5 crore people. Urban researcher Prof Nazrul Islam, Prof Mehedi Ahmed Ansary of Buet, architect Iqbal Habib of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon, Dr Shamontalal Sen of Burn Unit at Dhaka medical College Hospital and Monira Rahman, executive director of Acid Survivors Foundation also spoke at the roundtable moderated by Abdul Quayum, joint editor of the Prothom Alo.