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Basundhara blaze: An eye opener

Md. Shairul Mashreque
URBAN life in a mega city like Dhaka is under threat. Risks and hazards as the fall-out of unplanned urbanisation have bedeviled the lives of the city dwellers. Planned Dhaka city continues to be a distant dream.
In fact, the whole city has been experiencing vertical growth, with scanty chance of horizontal expansion. City dwellers live in apartments that are mostly death traps, and shop in supermarkets that are not protected against fires or accidents.
The reasons are lack of open spaces, mushrooming of tall buildings even in narrow lanes, and construction of big shopping centres on roads fronts. The little space left is inaccessible by ambulance and fire brigade.
A city must be a place where the residents can live in safety and equanimity.
Distressingly, corruption in city management has made the service delivery systems inoperative. Bad governance in public utility offices, Rajuk and the City Corporation is responsible for the sluggish implementation of development projects.
We have many reports about the pitfalls in urban administration. Managing tenders and approval of blueprints of buildings by offering kickbacks has become the practice.
Under the building and construction act, all types of buildings require a permit from Rajuk. Few people comply with the building codes. It is easy to manage a permit by exerting undue influence and by exploiting connections or kinship.
There have been fires in markets, apparel industries and residential buildings. We do not bother to think about the dangers of violating building codes. Most builders of high-rise buildings do not think in terms of sound structural design
based on correct materials in correct proportions.
Residents of Dhaka experienced a terrible fire in the Basundhara City shopping complex, which took some lives and damaged property. It is a twenty-storey shopping mall with "iconic features," built at a cost of Tk.420 core. The devastating fire caused considerable damage, amounting to Tk.200 crore according to the corporate authority.
It was a reminder of the indifference towards the dangers of unplanned urbanisation. Basundhara City, one of the largest shopping mall in Asia, was badly damaged by the roaring blaze that broke out in the corporate and commercial offices on the top floors minutes before 2pm on March 13, killing seven and injuring twenty five. An electrical short-circuit may have started the fire. The atmosphere that was created around the buildings was one of fear and apprehension. The complex had all the equipments to fight fires but the blaze on the top floors was unreachable, beyond the ill-equipped fire service.
A strong wind blowing over the city fanned flames rendering the task of dousing the fire impossible. According to the news, the fire brigade sprayed water from a sky lift that could barely touched the fifteenth floor. The fire-fighters were helped by the army, air force, Rab and
police. They were able to tame the fire at 9pm.
Most fire accidents normally take place immediately after winter, between February and March. Many godowns and commercial establishments have been gutted after winter. The Basundhara blaze and the fire at BSEC building are no exception. Thing is that there is little mass awareness about the dangers of fire accidents. The inhabitants of various dwelling units are agonisingly exposed to the indifference and incapacities of the caretakers and their employers.
The fire service is not modernised to the extent desired. It does not have high-tech equipment and the personnel are not properly trained. The multi-storied buildings should have well trained staff and necessary logistics to tackle any accident. In a talk show some experts opined that hardly twenty percent of the high-rise buildings have sufficient modern fire extinguishing systems. The caretakers and dwellers do not have capacity building training to face any eventuality.
The consequences will be catastrophic if an earthquake jolts tall buildings. Basundhara was well built with a solid concrete foundation. But some combustible materials were certainly vulnerable to fire.
Md Shard Mashreque is a freelance contributor to The Daly Star.