Dhaka, April 01 – Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha (RAJUK) yesterday started a two-day inspection of high-rise buildings to find out buildings constructed flouting the building codes and in compliance with fire safety rules.
Twenty-four teams of RAJUK—the capital development authority—started its drive to inspect and find buildings that have violated rules and regulations. The 24 teams—under eight RAJUK zones—inspected buildings that are over 10-storeys tall.
The decision to inspect buildings was made after a deadly fire in Banani’s FR Tower, which killed 26 people on March 28.
During the inspection, RAJUK has ordered all the shops housed in Dhanmondi’s Rangs Fortune Square to shut down, due to a lack of safety certificates.
The building houses many food outlets including Crimson Cup BD, Yum Cha District, Glazed, and Jing Ling Restaurant.
RAJUK Zone-5 (Dhanmondi and Lalbagh) Director Shah Alom Chowdhury confirmed the matter to The Independent and said that the shops of the building did not have safety certificates.
As part of the programme, a five-member team of RAJUK was seen visiting an under-construction building in Kamrangirchar area around 12 pm. They talked with the owner of the building and also looked at its plan.
On the other hand, the RAJUK team designated to inspect Zone-4 visited Prasad Trade Centre on Banani’s Kamal Ataturk Avenue and found various deviations of the building code.
Mamun Mia, director of the zone told the reporters that they have found a restaurant at the entrance of the building which should not have been there.
“We have instantly closed operations of the restaurant and directed to move it,” Mamun said.
“If they fail to move the restaurant in given time, we will take legal actions via mobile court,” he added.
The teams checked fire safety systems and designs of the high-rise buildings, including business establishments, shopping malls, educational institutions and even private hospitals do not
In a survey on 3,786 establishments in 2017, the FSCD found that 1,069 had no fire safety measures (extremely risky) and 2,588 had some fire-safety measures (risky). Only 129 were identified as
satisfactory.
The establishments surveyed include schools, colleges, universities, shopping malls, banks, hospitals, media centres and residential hotels. – Staff Reporter
