Teeming with restaurants, Dhanmondi, Mirpur and Khilgaon areas of Dhaka have numerous buildings similar to Green Cozy Cottage
Published : 04 Mar 2024, 03:55 AM
Trendy eateries, mostly outlets of restaurant chains, in a single building bustling with customers have exploded in Dhaka in recent years. The fire safety of these establishments has come under scrutiny following a deadly fire on Bailey Road.
Rahmatullah Chowdhury, a superintendent of police heading the bomb disposal section of their Counter Terrorism Unit, described the buildings like Green Cozy Cottage, the gutted structure, as ‘gas chambers’ and ‘time bombs’.
He shared his shock on Facebook on Sunday, stating in a post that, when loosely translated to English, says: "Green Cozy Cottage on Bailey Road was unlike anything I've encountered, even in my professional experience with dangerous crime scenes. The lack of exits made it a disaster waiting to happen.”
“It’s unthinkable! Unimaginable! I’ve never seen such a hell with all exits closed in my life. It’s unusual to not have an accident in such a place.”
Packed with restaurants, Dhanmondi, Mirpur and Khilgaon areas of Dhaka have numerous buildings similar to Green Cozy Cottage, where 46 people died in a blaze last Thursday. Most of the victims were diners or restaurant workers.
At Zigatola in Dhanmondi, Keari Crescent Plaza has restaurants on all but one of the 11 floors.
The building does have a fire exit, but it looks like a death trap as it is used to keep gas cylinders connected to the restaurant kitchens, or for staffers to sleep at night.
The door out of the building through the fire exit is blocked by a power generator and goods.
“We’ll create a shed to relocate the gas cylinders from the fire exit within three days,” said Shoib Khan, president of an association of the restaurants in the building.
On Sat Masjid Road, 13-storey KB Plaza houses 12 restaurants.
It also has a fire exit, which is relatively free, but the main gate of the fire exit is blocked by goods from a clothing shop. Even if someone can manage to get out through the door, they will have to get over gas cylinders kept there haphazardly.
The Star Kabab building on the same road in Dhanmondi also has outlets of Pizza Hut, Pizza Burg, Dosa Express, Cafe Osteria, Old Terres, Movenpick and The Dumpling Hut.
Hundreds of customers visit the building daily, but the lift is very small and the staircases are narrow.
A steel-made fire exit behind the building looks very difficult to use. And people in an emergency will have to get into the building through the fire exit if they want to get out after getting down the steel stairs. That path is also blocked by gas cylinders connected to the restaurant kitchens.
The nine-storey Skyview Nazma Tower in Khilgaon with six restaurants has two lifts and a single stairs exit, but no fire exit. Trash cans, broken furniture and gas cylinders occupy parts of the staircases.
Nightingale Skyview Tower, another building with no fire exit in Khilgaon, has restaurants on each floor. The narrow staircases are further narrowed by power generators and goods while the lift cannot carry more than four people at a time.
“The lift shakes if more than four people get in it. It frightens me, but I have to use it because I must retain my job,” said Hasanuzzaman, the worker of a restaurant in the building.
In Mirpur-12, the building owner asked the restaurants in Safura Tower for a week after the Bailey Road inferno. The 10-storey building has no fore exit. /
A restaurant worker, who requested anonymity fearing repercussions, said eateries in the building have more than 500 customers at a time during peak hours.
“After a generator caught fire around a year ago, the owner was told to improve the fire safety system, but they haven’t done it. They’ll do something now after the Bailey Road fire. We’ve been told to keep the restaurants closed for some days,” he said.
The owner could not be reached for comments. Zafar Ali, a caretaker, claimed the building has ‘everything necessary for fire safety’, but the restaurants have been asked to remain closed for some days for repairs.
Md Ashraful Islam, chief town planner of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, said the capital development authority’s jurisdiction ends after the construction of a building.
“The other regulatory agencies can prevent the establishment of restaurants in buildings for office use only. The city corporation can check this while issuing or renewing trade licences,” he said.
Md Abu Naser, a spokesman for Dhaka South City Corporation, said they give trade licences upon clearances from other agencies.
“But we can’t know if the building is authorised to have restaurants because RAJUK does not share the plans with us,” he said.
Brig Gen Md Moin Uddin, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said they can alert the owners to install proper safety systems through notices, but do not have the legal powers to start cases against those who do not follow the rules.