Following the tragic incident at Banani's F R Tower we were told that a list was being drawn up to check for proper firefighting measures in other multi-storeyed buildings and not only in Banani. There were fiery speeches from the Ministry of Public Works and the Mayor to the extent that not even their relatives would be let off the hook. The ensuing silence leaves us all nervous. Either all the buildings are building code-compliant or they have been given time to rectify. Either way no information has been forthcoming. There's an eerie feeling that the list, of any, will suffer the same fate as the supposed removal of commercial outlets following the Holy Artisan terror attack.
The Ministry has to take the lead given Rajdhani Unnayan Kortripokkho has the authority to approve or deny permission for building construction. Be it commercial or residential, property real estate companies are finding out devious side steps to that what is required and to date not a single company has been taken to task for negligence.
One bad decision leads to another and such has been the case with the crass commercialisation of residential areas under the DAP plans and its precursors. Commercial buildings continue to be approved without any realistic parking solutions and this includes issuing trade licenses to smaller shops. The parking situation in Dhaka is chaotic to say the least and it doesn't help when police instead of regular action decide on random action against illegal parking. They offer no alternative solutions because there are none. Rajuk has failed to either requisition land for installation of proper parking facilities or ensure that the rules governing real estate provide for more than adequate parking space.
Dhaka roads essentially are expansive, much more than in most countries of the world. It's the lack of discipline and an absence of designated parking space that is the problem. Statistics aren't readily available but it's a sure shot that most malls and hospitals don't have adequate facilities for parking. How they ever got the permission to build is a question that no one wants to answer and here we are with visions of bypassing Singapore at some stage in the future.
All in all due to a lack of monitoring bigger disasters are just waiting to happen. The media hype will feast on the human toll and the sensationalism and then all will die down. A case here and there won't suffice to provide the convenience, safety and security that a megapolis demands. Till then sheer size and population cannot qualify Dhaka for that what it is not.
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