Fire Safety in High-Rise: Owners exploit legal loopholes
Many building owners do not comply with fire safety regulations, taking advantage of conflicting legal definitions of high-rise buildings, said urban experts after a deadly fire on Bailey Road claimed 46 lives.
According to Building Construction Rules-2008 and Bangladesh National Building Code, a building with over 10-storeys or taller than 33 metres is a high-rise.
However, the fire prevention act defines any structure with over six storeys as high-rise. Owners are supposed to take no objection certificate (NOC) from the Fire Service and Civil Defence if the building has over six storeys.
"But many owners do not bother taking the NOC because as per the building construction rules, it is not obligatory when the structure has fewer than 10 storeys," says Adil Mohammad Khan, president of Bangladesh Institute of Planners.
This is why many seven- to 10-storey buildings, especially the residential ones, do not have two stairways and fire safety equipment, he adds.
The owners simply get approval from Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) which does not recognise these buildings as high-rise. Rajuk does not make it mandatory for these "non high-rise" buildings to have multiple stairways and other safety measures, Adil says.
Fire safety has been a widely talked about issue since last week's deadly fire. The building that went up in flames had just one stairway and lacked fire safety equipment.
The definition of high-rise is crucial as it dictates whether a building must have multiple stairways, emergency lift, sprinklers, fire-rated doors, adequate extinguishers, and water reservoirs.
"Many lives could have been saved had there been a uniform rule and regular oversight," says Adil.
In Dhanmondi, Banani and Khilgaon areas of the capital, many buildings with over six storeys, which makes them high-rise as per fire prevention act, have just one stairway in violation of the rule.
Before the enactment of the Building Construction Rules 2008, Rajuk used to recognise above six-storey buildings as high-rise.
Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, director (operations) at fire service, says, "I think 90 percent of the residential high-rise [above six-storey] owners do not bother implementing our safety plan."
Besides, any building being used for commercial purposes needs a fire safety plan from the fire service. The director general of fire service issues NOC based on its occupancy and its use.
Owners of 70 to 80 percent of commercial buildings apply to get the NOC. But once they get the NOC, they forget about the safety plan.
"They just put up some extinguishers and a hose reel, but most other components of the plan remain unimplemented."
Businessmen do not want to invest in fire safety, he adds.
Tajul says that around 84 percent of high-rise buildings (above six-storey) in Dhaka city are risky.
The lack of clarity from Rajuk has created confusion over the fire safety measures of commercial category buildings.
Iqbal Habib, vice-president of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon, said Rajuk should make it clearer and more definitive.
He said the seven-storey commercial-cum residential building on Bailey Road which was engulfed with fire on Thursday took advantage of that ambiguity and kept only one stairway.
"As Rajuk did not elaborate on its definition, owners can get approval keeping a single stairway in the building even though they use the building for commercial purposes, especially for a restaurant," Iqbal said.
Ashraful Islam, chief town planner of Rajuk said, "We held an inter-ministerial meeting regarding the issue earlier and we also agreed with the fire service to call a building high-rise if it's above six storeys. But we could not proceed further due to pressure from other stakeholders."
He said that the argument of declaring a building above six-storey is strong considering the limitations of the firefighters and the density of population in Dhaka.
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