Bashundhara City blaze
Sunday, 15 March 2009
A number of top floors of the Dhaka city's landmark shopping mall, Bashundhara City, which is claimed to be the 12th largest in the world, were devoured by a devastating fire on Friday. Thousands from nearby streets and rooftops and millions watched on TV with horror how the top floors of the high-rise modern market turned into ashes one after another. Initially, the casualty from the incident was said to be only one employee of the mall. However, six more charred bodies were recovered later from inside the burnt-out floors. Firefighters from all over the city and nearby places rushed to the spot but despite all their efforts, they could not tame the raging inferno until it died down on its own. Limitation in terms of equipment forced a good number of the firefighters to watch the partial decline of an architectural marvel.
Though details of the damage are not yet available, it is quite clear that the corporate offices of the Bashundhara Group, which is involved in a number of business operations and manufacturing, have taken the main brunt of the devastating fire. It may not turn out to be too difficult for one of the country's top business houses to rebuild the structures lost to the fire. But the loss of documents concerning their business operations might put the group in some real difficulty. However, it was a great escape for most other business operations in the shopping mall, including 2500 retail shops, food outlets, health clubs and gymnasium and movie houses. All those facilities have gone unscathed by the fire that originated, for the first time in the country, at one of the top floors of a high-rise building. The shocking incident has brought to the fore the lack of preparedness on the part of the firefighters and the owners of the high-rises to handle this kind of disaster. It will be unfair to blame the firefighters since the government has provided them with a hydraulic ladder that cannot reach beyond the 13th floor. That is why they kept on spraying water within their reach leaving the top floors at the mercy of the blaze. Yet the firemen, the members of the armed forces, police and local people do deserve appreciation for trying their best to bring the fire under control and maintain peace and discipline in the area.
What has rather baffled many is the failure of the Bashundhara's own firefighting unit to detect the fire at its origin and put out the same promptly. The building is reportedly equipped with modern smoke and heat sensors and roof-top hydrants. But there was, allegedly, none in the firefighting unit on the fateful day to detect the smoke and the hydrants were dry. These all speak loudly of the fact that none in the Bashundhara management felt the need for checking its firefighting systems or conducting drills at regular intervals. The Bashundhara fire should wake up the owners of all other towers and plazas in the capital city about the need to keep their own firefighting preparedness flawless and do whatever is necessary to upgrade the same.
Meanwhile, the government should move beyond its usual action of forming committees to probe into big fire incidents. It should strengthen the capacities of the fire brigades with all the necessary equipment and vehicles as well as training. Public money worth billions is wasted or misappropriated regularly. So, spending money on a good cause should not be a problem for the government. The firefighting department of the government should also be given the job of checking the firefighting arrangements in all the high-rise buildings in the city and continue to do it at regular intervals.
Though details of the damage are not yet available, it is quite clear that the corporate offices of the Bashundhara Group, which is involved in a number of business operations and manufacturing, have taken the main brunt of the devastating fire. It may not turn out to be too difficult for one of the country's top business houses to rebuild the structures lost to the fire. But the loss of documents concerning their business operations might put the group in some real difficulty. However, it was a great escape for most other business operations in the shopping mall, including 2500 retail shops, food outlets, health clubs and gymnasium and movie houses. All those facilities have gone unscathed by the fire that originated, for the first time in the country, at one of the top floors of a high-rise building. The shocking incident has brought to the fore the lack of preparedness on the part of the firefighters and the owners of the high-rises to handle this kind of disaster. It will be unfair to blame the firefighters since the government has provided them with a hydraulic ladder that cannot reach beyond the 13th floor. That is why they kept on spraying water within their reach leaving the top floors at the mercy of the blaze. Yet the firemen, the members of the armed forces, police and local people do deserve appreciation for trying their best to bring the fire under control and maintain peace and discipline in the area.
What has rather baffled many is the failure of the Bashundhara's own firefighting unit to detect the fire at its origin and put out the same promptly. The building is reportedly equipped with modern smoke and heat sensors and roof-top hydrants. But there was, allegedly, none in the firefighting unit on the fateful day to detect the smoke and the hydrants were dry. These all speak loudly of the fact that none in the Bashundhara management felt the need for checking its firefighting systems or conducting drills at regular intervals. The Bashundhara fire should wake up the owners of all other towers and plazas in the capital city about the need to keep their own firefighting preparedness flawless and do whatever is necessary to upgrade the same.
Meanwhile, the government should move beyond its usual action of forming committees to probe into big fire incidents. It should strengthen the capacities of the fire brigades with all the necessary equipment and vehicles as well as training. Public money worth billions is wasted or misappropriated regularly. So, spending money on a good cause should not be a problem for the government. The firefighting department of the government should also be given the job of checking the firefighting arrangements in all the high-rise buildings in the city and continue to do it at regular intervals.