Shawdesh desk:

Most of the restaurants in Dhaka city have no fire safety measures although fire incidents in restaurants leave dozens of people killed every year.

Many restaurants are also set up on rooftops and in basements in Dhaka city violating the building approval plans of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha.

Fire Service and Civil Defence director for operations and maintenance Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told New Age on Saturday, ‘We do not have any specific figure but only a handful of restaurants across the country have fire safety measures.’

He said that they had served notices on the restaurant owners to ensure fire safety but traders hardly paid heed to them.

‘We could not take legal action against the errant restaurants as we have no executive magistrate,’ he added.

At least seven people were rescued after a fire broke out at the Love Leen Restaurant at Uttara in the capital Friday morning.

The Fire Service and Civil Defence primarily assumed that the fire originated from the kitchen of the restaurant while local people alleged that gas cylinders were kept outside the restaurant and in open spaces and using compressed natural gas in cooking instead of liquefied petroleum gas.

More than 4,00,000 restaurants are operating across the country but only a few of those have fire safety measures, said govt officials and restaurant owners estimating government data.

Restaurant owners also expressed concern over the repeated fire incidents and casualties.

Bangladesh Restaurant Owners’ Association secretary general Md Imran Hasan said that restaurants kept mushrooming in Dhaka city caring about no rules and regulations.

‘We have come to know from the government that more than 4 lakh restaurants are operating in the country. Only a few of them have fire safety measures and many do not even have any occupancy certificate,’ Imran said.

Although more than 60,000 restaurants are operating in Dhaka, the association has about 2,700 members, he said, adding that all members were not active in the association.

He blamed both restaurant owners and authorities concerned for the vulnerable situation.

The association’s senior vice-president Anowar Hossain urged the government to take actions against restaurant owners for not following government rules.

On February 29, 46 people were killed as a fire broke out at Green Cozy Cottage building on the capital’s Bayley Road.

In early April, Rajuk submitted its probe report to its chairman, overlooking the responsibility of its own development control wing in the Green Cozy Cottage fire.

The report blamed Dhaka South City Corporation for issuing trade licences to four restaurants and a business entity in the building without following Rajuk’s approved design and occupancy certificate.

The report said that the Fire Service and Civil Defence had given clearance to one of the four restaurants without checking Rajuk’s approved design and occupancy certificate.

Rajuk chairman retired Major General Md Siddiqur Rahman Sarker, however, claimed that they usually approved the plan of buildings for the use on commercial or residential purposes.

‘The Dhaka district administration and the city corporations have to oversee the restaurants operating without having occupancy certificates or fire safety measures,’ Siddiqur said.

The Rajuk cannot even conduct regular drives as it has only one magistrate against nine posts, he said.

Stressing the importance of public awareness to get rid of the situation, the Rajuk chairman alleged that they had demolished an unauthorised building five times but the latest visit found it to have been developed again.

Dhaka district deputy commissioner Tanvir Ahmed acknowledged the matter of operating a large number of restaurants in Dhaka without fire safety measures and breaching approved building plans.

‘We will look into the issue at the earliest,’ he said, adding, ‘If we want to take action against those restaurants, the number of operating restaurants will fall drastically.’

Jahangirnagar University urban planning professor Akter Mahmud mainly blamed the inefficiency of two government authorities––the Rajuk and the fire service.

‘The Rajuk issues occupancy certificates for the use of buildings and the certificates have to be renewed after scrutiny every two years. Rajuk is one of the most responsible authorities and cannot avoid its responsibility,’ Akter added.

As most of the restaurants have no fire safety measures, the fire service should take actions against the errant restaurants and mere serving notices is not enough, he said.

In March 2023, the Rajuk found misuse of basements in 683 buildings in a survey following several incidents of explosions and fires in the city.

They did not take any actions, except serving notices in the past two years, he said.

Rajuk member for development control Mohamamd Harun Or Rashid, however, said that he was unaware of the matter as he joined there after the fall of Sheikh Hasina regime on August 5.