Another high-rise in city develops cracks

Yet another four-storey building in city's Siddik Bazar area developed cracks for faulty construction last week forcing panic-stricken inmates to evacuate. Occupants of two other adjacent semi-pucca houses also left their homes out of fear. The Financial Express (FE) in a report published in its issue of August 13 last quoted locals and officials concerned as saying that the four-storey house was built in violation of RAJUK (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha) building code. The FE report further says that local people alleged the owner erected the building on its original two-storey foundation. A RAJUK magistrate told reporters at the site that there are many buildings in Old Dhaka which pose threat to public safety.
In fact, widespread violation of national building code, formulated in 1993, continues in the absence of proper supervision by the relevant authorities. Despite a High Court (HC) order issued in 2010 to set up an authority to monitor compliance with building code, the government has failed to do so. Such inaction on the part of the ministry of housing and public works has led to the proliferation of risky buildings in cities and towns across the country, both in private and public sectors. The national building code envisages that the government must set up a permanent institute to supervise construction of buildings as per their approved designs. The national building code was prepared by the government on the basis of discussions with the experts of 25 institutions of the country.
Improper piling, faulty construction, use of inferior quality materials and violation of building code have been found behind the collapse of many buildings in the city in the recent past. Most of the collapsed buildings have one thing in common, that is, the structures were raised without maintaining proper construction rules. In order to save money the owners hardly lay foundation at required depth.
Experts suggest that the government should take firm stand against those developers and individuals who violate building code. Proper implementation of the code can only help minimize damage to life and property in the event of building collapse. In most cases, RAJUK officials can only respond when a collapse or tilting of buildings takes place. The authority is hard put to supervise the construction of buildings from beginning to end and ensure whether the building code is followed.
Moreover, the RAJUK is also burdened with the problem of those buildings already identified vulnerable by it. It has found that 1000 buildings including some at the Bangladesh Secretariat are vulnerable to earthquakes. A special committee formed by RAJUK earlier to identify the risky buildings in the city in its report had said that 10 fire stations, out of 13 which were constructed half a century ago, are vulnerable to moderate earthquakes. The main building of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital is risky.
Despite recommendations by the experts for retrofitting those vulnerable buildings on an emergency basis nothing has been done as yet   due to bureaucratic bottleneck. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of the national building code itself, as we reported earlier in this column, has been questioned by a Japanese expert. Shunsuke Otani, a professor of University of Tokyo, had said about three years ago that the national building code "is a copy of the US building code which cannot ensure safety of buildings in the country during earthquakes". Otani had observed that the US building codes "have been developed over the years" and "copying of it cannot reduce vulnerability of the buildings in Bangladesh". He advised the authorities concerned to prepare building code on the basis of local condition.
Under the prevailing situation, the relevant government agencies must act in a coordinated manner and ensure that construction rules are strictly followed as per building code. Side by side, work on retrofitting of vulnerable buildings should be undertaken forthwith to minimize loss to public life and property in the event of their collapse.
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