Unchecked construction turns Bailey Road into deadly thoroughfare

Most of the bodies recovered after the deadly Thursday (29 February) fire on Bailey Road's Green Cozy Cottage had little to no signs of burns.

Instead, most people died that night due to suffocation in the confined rooms. Those injured were also affected mainly by the plume of black smoke.

The primary factor contributing to this was the architectural design of the entire building, which featured a glass facade.

As the fire ascended from the ground floor, it filled the rooms with thick smoke. Consequently, insufficient ventilation on those floors led to the tragic loss of many lives due to suffocation.

To add to the woe, the building had only one narrow staircase. More than two people couldn't walk side by side using the staircase.

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) granted approval for the majority of the buildings on Bailey Road for residential or commercial use in 2011. While these buildings permitted office spaces, restaurants or showrooms were not authorised.

Despite lacking permission, the third floor of the seven-story building housed a clothing showroom, while the remaining six floors hosted restaurants. Even the rooftop accommodated a restaurant.

This is the scenario in most commercial buildings on Bailey Road.

About 30 buildings on the road have nearly 150 eateries and 50 clothing stores.

None of the buildings have emergency exits.

On Friday (1 March), a day after the fire, it was observed that most of the shops surrounding the fire-ravaged building on Bailey Road remained closed.

A few shops in the area that opened experienced very low foot traffic.

There is a 14-storey building adjacent to the Green Cozy Cottage building. The lower three floors of this building have KFC, Pizza Hut, Secret Recipe, and several other well-known eateries.  

The rest of the upper floors are mainly used for residential purposes.

The lower four floors of this building are entirely covered in glass. Even though there are two elevators inside, there is only one narrow staircase.

There is no emergency exit in this building either.

"We are now scared that our situation might turn out to be like the restaurant workers in the burned building. Gas cylinders for the restaurants in our building are placed inside and below the staircase. Now it feels like they could catch fire anytime," said an employee of one of the restaurants in the building, seeking anonymity.

On the other side of Green Cozy Cottage is a five-story building where the lower three floors house restaurants.

Establishments on two floors of the building use gas cylinders to cook. All these cylinders are kept either on the ground floor of the building, on the staircase or inside the restaurant.

"There is only one staircase in this building. We cook with cylinder gas. I do not know if there is permission for the restaurant. But we have occupancy certificates," said a staff member of Cafe Bailey Bistro on the second floor of the building.

The staircase of this building is not spacious enough, and there is no fire exits either.

Another multi-storey building, AQP Shopping Mall, has several food shops, including Nawabi Bhoj, on its bottom four floors. The top floors are used for residential purposes.

Sabina Yasmin, a resident of the area, said, "We often come here with our families to eat in these buildings. But I never worried about whether the building had fire safety or not. Thursday's incident has left us with grave concern."

"Most of the restaurants here are covered in glass. There is also no natural air circulation, but air condition. Even the staircases are congested," she added.

Rajuk Chief Town Planner Ashraful Islam said, "Most of the buildings on Bailey Road were approved for residential or commercial purposes. Approval for restaurants in such buildings is very rare.

"Buildings approved for residential purposes cannot accommodate restaurants in any way. Most of the buildings on Bailey Road have violated the law by accommodating restaurants and showrooms," he added.

"The building owners bear primary responsibility for this situation. They are profiting from renting out spaces without proper permissions. These structures, adorned with glass facades, are highly susceptible to accidents. Glass buildings can become hazardous zones akin to suicide spots," Ashraful further said.

Zakir Uddin Ahmed, secretary-general of the Electricity Safety and Security Association of Bangladesh (Essab), said, "There were no fire safety arrangements or fire exits in the building [Green Cozy Cottage]. We have seen gas cylinders on every floor. If all of them exploded, no one in the building could have survived."

He further said, "Most buildings on Bailey Road do not have fire safety or fire exits. Even after repeatedly alerting government institutions, we do not see much initiative. Responsible organisations need to be strict."

When asked how the city corporation could give licenses to restaurants and business establishments in an unplanned building like this, Dhaka South Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said, "Trade licenses have been updated here. There has been no deviation.
"Deviations were in constructing the building. If there are more than five stories in a building, there must be two staircases. It was not followed here," he added.

The mayor said, "Comprehensive implementation and management of building codes are essential to prevent extensive loss of life and property. Dhaka South City Corporation is adopting a rigorous policy.

"Dhaka South City Corporation is drafting a policy that will mandate obtaining permission from the city corporation before constructing or renovating buildings. This policy has been submitted to the government for approval," he added.