Bangladesh's Fire Safety Regime has recently been talked about. However, systematic dysfunctionality exists which require long-term plan and sincere efforts for strengthening the fire safety regime of Bangladesh.
On the night of February 29, 2024, a 7-storey high rise shopping mall with numerous restaurants in Dhaka’s Baily Road went up in flames and hijacked 46 lives due to the fire accident. Despite being a high-rise, the building had only one stairway, and no emergency exit. The building also significantly lacked the necessary fire safety equipment.
102 Deaths
281 Injuries
BDT 7.92 Billion Estimated Damage
This is a typical scene in Bangladesh’s capital where many establishments do not have the prerequisite safety measures that take away people’s ability to defend themselves in an event of fire accident. Architect Mustapha Khalid Palash called out a building he designed and said that fire rooms have been removed from the building and storerooms have been established in the fire stairwells. In 2023, a total of 27, 624 fire incidents were reported, which resulted in 102 deaths, 281 injuries, and estimated damages of BDT 7.92 billion.
Nearly 2,600 buildings in Dhaka city are at risk of fire accidents. The fire accidents have become a recurring event in the capital. On April 4, 2023, one of the biggest clothing markets of Dhaka, Bangabazar, faced a massive fire accident. On February 22, 2022, a fire broke out in Dhaka’s biggest book market, Nilkhet. On March 28, 2019, fire erupted on the 8th floor of the 22-storey FR Tower in Banani, Dhaka, causing 25 deaths and 70 injuries. As the fire broke out in FR Tower, Duronto TV and Radio Today had to shut down their transmissions as they were situated close to FR Tower. In Dhaka’s Chawkbazar, an area known for a hub for polythene and plastic factories, an old factory experienced a fire accident on August 15, 2022. Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense declared the Dhanmondi Hawkers Market “very risky” as the market does not have necessary fire fighting equipment and measures.
Existing Legal Frameworks for Fire Safety
In response to numerous fire incidents, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has revised the principal legislation governing the fire safety within Bangladesh which is the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) 2020. Some of the key provisions included are:
- Fireproof Building Construction: To hinder fire spread, the code mandates to utilize fire-resistant materials in construction. (Part III)
- Fire Alert and Detection Systems: Mandatory installation of fire detection and alarm systems to promptly alert occupants in events of smoke, heat, or fire. (Part IV, Chapter 5)
- Emergency Exit Routes: Requirements for multiple easily accessible exits in the buildings for speedy. (Part IV, Chapter 3)
- Firefighting Tools: Compulsory installation of fire fighting equipments such as sprinkler systems, extinguishers, and hoses to control and extinguish a fire break out. (Part IV, Chapter 4)
- Smoke Control Systems: Requirements for installing smoke management systems, including smoke vents, exhaust fans, and pressurization systems in order to mitigate smoke inhalation risks. (Part IV, Chapter 3).
- Emergency Evacuation Drills and Training: Mandate for regular fire drills and training sessions to ensure preparedness during emergency among building owners and occupants. (Part IV, Chapter 1, Appendix B).
The Fire Prevention and Extinguishing Act, alongside the Fire Prevention and Extinguishing Rules are pivotal in ensuring safety. Following are the few highlights from the Act and Rules:
- Approval from Fire Service: Requirement for approval of the Directorate General of Fire Service and Civil Defence for design or layout of a multi-storied commercial building. (Section 7 of the Act)
- Requirement of an Occupancy Certificate: An occupancy certificate to confirm adherence to building safety standards. (Rule 22 of the Rules)
Root Causes Behind the Fire Incidents, Casualties and Loss
How do fire incidents occur in the first place, & why can’t we still prevent it even after so many tragedies over the years? There are broadly THREE reasons behind this recurring catastrophe:
Lax Enforcement of Law Due to An Absence of Implementation Authority
Despite the existence of Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) and Fire Prevention and Extinguishing Act (FPEA), the regulations are not being implemented by both the authorities and building owners. The primary reason behind this is a lack of a dedicated body mandated for the oversight and implementation of the regulations. As per Part II, Chapter 2, Paragraph 12 of BNBC 2020, an authority should be established to oversee the implementation of BNBC. However, such dedicated authorities and local level building bodies envisaged within BNBC are yet to be formed even after more than 3 years has passed since BNBC was adopted.
A lack of coordination among crucial departments such as RAJUK, fire service, and city corporations also results in systematic negligence. All the authorities put blame on each other, instead of standing up and taking up responsibility.
Absence of a Uniform Legal Definition of High-Rises
The existing fire safety codes are inadequate to cover a wide range of possibilities that can cause fire incidents in buildings.
There is an absence of a uniform legal definition of high-rise buildings. Conflicting definitions of high-rise buildings allow building owners to exploit legal loopholes. Both the Building Construction Rules 2008 and Bangladesh National Building Code define high-rises as any building exceeding 10 storeys or taller than 33 meters. However, the Fire Prevention and Extinguishing Act considers any building with over 6 storeys as high-rises. And as the act mandates, the owners of these high-rises are obligated to take No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Fire Service and Civil Defence.
However, due to the glaring differences in the definition of high-rises in different laws, the building owners ignore taking the NOC since BNBC does not necessitates NOC for buildings with fewer than 10 storeys. As a consequence, a lot of 7- to 10-storey buildings, including ones used for residential purposes, do not have 2 stairways and fire safety equipment on each floor. Since Dhaka’s Capital Development Authority Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) does not recognize less than 10-storey buildings as high rises, these establishments easily obtain approval from Rajuk without complying with the fire safety requirements.
The 7-storey Green Cozy Cottage Shopping Mall on Bailey Road, which went up in flames and cost 46 lives, had only one stairway, no emergency exit and significantly lacked necessary fire safety equipment.
Non-Compliance by Building Owners
A lot of the buildings in the city are not built to comply with the fire safety codes. Most building owners, residents and tenants are not cautious about safety compliances. When the February 2023 Gulshan fire incident was investigated, the investigation revealed that the 13-story building did not have the necessary fire safety plan and essential equipment like fire extinguishers. Many buildings, including skyscrapers, lack proper fire exits and store flammable materials. More importantly, a lot of buildings are not made to survive earthquakes. Inhabitants of Dhaka are exposed to a potential risk because safety is not a top priority in the city’s establishments. Buildings with restaurants should be more careful in terms of ensuring safety. During construction, a lot of the buildings do not even obtain the necessary NOC from the fire service.
Routine fire drills are essential in preparing the inhabitants of a building to deal with a fire incident. Although BNBC recommends regular fire drills, the building owners or the flat owners’ association (samiti), do not arrange such fire drills, through which residents will be able to prepare themselves in an emergency. Such reluctance makes most Bangladeshi largely unaware of the precautions as well as steps should be taken during a fire accident.
Director (operations and maintenance) at Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, Lt. Col. Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury said, “I think 90% of the resident high-rise (above 6-storey) owners do not bother implementing our safety plan.” A lot of commercial building owners obtain the NOC from the Fire Service. However, after receiving the NOC, they take some tokenistic measures such as putting up extinguishers and a hose reel while ignoring the other components of the safety plan.
Main stairwells and emergency exits in many high-rises are being used to store LPG cylinders, large boxes, broken furniture etc. Some stairways in many buildings are barely wide enough for 2 individuals. So many of the emergency exits are unmarked.
Understaffed Fire Service and Negligence in Obtaining Fire Insurance
According to the annual reports of Fire Service and Civil Defence of Bangladesh, there are many empty posts in the force of which, majority are for personnel in 3rd or 4th grade positions, who are the foot soldiers of the force.
Even then fire service is one of the most proactive and effective forces of the country. But there are certain limitations the force is subject to, including but not limited to personnel shortage. However, last year the empty posts have been cut down by almost half.
On the other hand, average loss and casualties of a fire incident is higher in Bangladesh compared to developed countries. One of the reasons why fire incidents cause small and medium enterprises to go out of business is that there is not enough emphasis on fire insurances. Even though fire insurance in Bangladesh is increasing steadily, it requires systematic focus for rapid improvement.
Recommendations
- Establishing BBRA: Expediting the process of forming a separate and independent agency called the Bangladesh Building Regulatory Authority (BBRA) to enforce BNBC.
- Uniform Definition of High-Rises: A uniformed definition of high-rises is pivotal in ensuring necessary fire safety requirements such as having adequate fire extinguishers, multiple stairways, emergency lift, sprinklers, emergency fire exits, and water reservoirs. The existing legal ambiguity has endangered the lives of thousands in the capital which needs to stop immediately.
- Different Rules for Different Heights: Separate rules should be mandated targeting different heights of buildings. Different actions and safety compliances are required for these multi-occupied buildings which depend upon the height of the building. Some provisions will be applied on these buildings universally, meaning regardless of their heights. The United Kingdom’s fire safety regulations divided buildings in 3 categories: (a) Residential buildings with 2 or more domestic premises with common areas, (b) Residential buildings over 11 meters but less than 18 meters in height, and (c) Residential buildings 18 meters (or 7 storeys) and above in height.
- Increasing Awareness: The pertinent government authorities should increase awareness campaigns on various issues such as fire safety, getting NOC for buildings, etc. to better inform people. Such public awareness campaigns about safety measures and preparedness will encourage people to take proactive actions to ensure the safety of themselves and their owned properties.
- Reducing Bureaucratic Red Tape: Bureaucratic red tape has to be reduced in government offices as harassment at public offices while receiving government services discourages so many building owners from getting NOCs for their buildings.
- Increasing Resources: Limitation in manpower and other resources hinders effective enforcement of the rules by the responsible authorities. GoB should focus on providing more resources to these authorities. The Ministry of Housing and Public Works can play a crucial role in providing adequate resources to the regulatory bodies.
- Routine Monitoring, Inspection and Investigation: While the recent drives by government agencies to ensure fire safety measures in restaurants and other establishments are commendable, the regulatory bodies must take a more proactive approach in monitoring and cracking down establishments who are not complaining with the safety plan.
- Expediting Justice Delivery: Holding building owners and government officials accountable for negligence is critical. Expediting investigation and trials is quintessential to ensure justice and deter people who are violating the law.
- Recognizing Restaurants as A Category of Occupancy: The existing laws do not recognize restaurants as a category of occupancy. This legal loophole can be exploited by restaurant owners for not complying with the safety plan. The next amendment of the building construction rules should address this loophole.
- Exterior Fire Escape Staircases: In countries like the United States, exterior fire escape staircases are being installed in buildings. As most of the buildings and structures in Dhaka are already established and constructing separate fire exits in these buildings are virtually impossible, GoB can make it a rule to install exterior fire escape staircases in such buildings.
- Wayfinding Signage and Accessibility: In a lot of buildings in Bangladesh, emergency exits are unmarked and not easily accessible. All the emergencies must be made easily accessible and properly marked so that they can easily be found. Installing floor identification signs and flat indicator signs is also crucial as they are intended to assist responding firefighters. The signage should be visible in low light or smoky conditions.
- Establishing BBRA: Expediting the process of forming a separate and independent agency called the Bangladesh Building Regulatory Authority (BBRA) to enforce BNBC.
Cover Photo: The Daily Star
The research for this article was assisted by Istiak Sharafat Sikder, a student of BBA in Port Management and Logistics at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University.
About the Author
Shah Adaan Uzzaman is the Blog Administrator at The Confluence. A former Bangladesh Television Debate Champion and winner of several policy & debate competitions, he is currently a student of IBA, University of Dhaka.