The death traps lurking behind the fancy facade of Gulshan-Banani eateries
In the wake of the Bailey Road fire, The Business Standard visited Gulshan-Banani to see first-hand the state of fire safety protocols in place inside commercial buildings housing multiple restaurants
Shohrab, a rickshaw puller hailing from Netrokona, picked us up from Kamal Ataturk Avenue in Banani on Sunday afternoon. In the vicinity lies FR Tower, still battered from the fire that killed some 25 people in 2019. Shohrab witnessed that inferno.
"People died an agonizing death that day," Shohrab reminisced on our way to Banani-11's Navana Rowshan Syed Plaza. This building, which looks quite fancy from the outside, houses some renowned restaurants, including Madchef and Hakka Dhaka, as well as some renowned lifestyle brands, bakery and pastry chains, among other businesses.
Once inside Madchef and Hakka Dhaka, when we asked if they had a fire exit, we learned that this eight-storey building doesn't have any.
Both Madchef and Hakka Dhaka have been based in this building for about five years now.
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"We have to work in this building regularly. This is highly risky for us employees," said Apu Pandey, the manager of the Hakka Dhaka Banani branch. We found Apu with a building plan in his hand, which he said belonged to this building.
In the wake of the Baily Road fire and five years without a fire exit, the restaurant authority had finally reached out to Navana regarding the emergency exit issue.
All the restaurants that we visited in this Banani 11 building, however, had their exit route through their kitchen. "This is a faulty plan. The fire exit route should be absolutely clear for uninterrupted movement. You do not need regulations to realise this, this is a lack of common sense, I feel
Tarikul Islam Noyon, manager of the building, said that there was no fire exit in the original plan of the building, and Rajuk had approved it like this.
Planners and fire service specialists, however, said that Rajuk cannot approve such a structure without a fire exit. "Even if it is a two-story commercial building, it must have an emergency fire exit plan," said Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan (retd), former director general of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense.
Then why would Rajuk approve of this plan for a commercial building? We contacted Rajuk's Md Billal Hossain (Chief Building Inspector) and Md Ashraful Islam (Chief City Planner). But they didn't respond to our calls.
Fire code violations in the capital's richest neighbourhoods
In our exploration of fire safety at food joints at the Banani 11 cluster, and some other areas in Banani and Gulshan, we visited more than a dozen restaurants. While some of them maintained fire safety protocols, including the ones at the city corporation building in Gulshan 2, we saw gross violations of fire codes in most restaurants in the skyscrapers of the richest neighbourhood in the capital.
In the heart of Gulshan-1 circle, Habib Tower houses three restaurants, including Mezbaan Dine, along with many miscellaneous stores. Once inside, the building looks akin to a maze with two narrow staircases.
Mezbaan is located on the fourth floor. When asked for the fire exit, one of its employees took us through the kitchen to the fire exit door, which was not marked or bore any signage for customers to see a clear exit route in case of an emergency.
The door was strewed with myriad obstacles — first, the fire exit was through a kitchen and then it was laden with boxes, etc. The manager Aziz said the door could not be opened because their stairs down were obstructed due to some "protisthan" [institution] on the other side.
When asked what preparation they have taken to address fire safety, he said, "We will hold a meeting today [Sunday] about this matter with our staff."
When we came back with the building manager who insisted their emergency exit was functional, we came across another route which was obstructed with a refrigerator. When the kitchen route was opened, as we descended the stairs, we came across tables and chairs on the emergency stairs and some employees were gossiping there.
Banani's Genetic Point-11 tower is the busiest restaurant hub in this area. This building houses some big names including Chillox, BFC, Chowmin, Afgan Grill and Texas Flame.
We visited almost all the restaurants housed in this building. It has a fire exit, however, some of the restaurants don't have signage for the fire exits. One of them is Texas Flame.
The restaurant is beautifully decorated in a Western movie theme — reflective of those John Wayne cowboy movies. However, its exit was not well-marked, which too was through its kitchen. When we asked its manager Tanvir if we could have a look at the exit route, he refused us an entry.
When asked about signage and marks indicating the exit route, the manager said, "They have taken measurements," but the signage was not "ready yet."
In the case of an emergency, please exit through the kitchen
While some restaurants didn't have fire extinguishers, all the restaurants that we visited in this building, however, had their exit route through their kitchen, which planners described as a defective design.
"This is a faulty plan. The fire exit route should be absolutely clear for uninterrupted movement. You do not need regulations to realise this, this is a lack of common sense, I feel," said Urban planner Adil Mohammed Khan.
Afgan Grills's Md Raju worked at a pizza restaurant when the FR tower incident happened. "I have experience of exiting fire incidents. I was on the 9th floor of Ahmed Tower then, just adjacent to the FR Tower," the memory still haunts him.
However, his current workplace has its emergency fire exit through the kitchen, and the signage needs to be visible to the customers.
The BNB Empire building is located just the opposite side of Point-11, which houses Khanas and Manzar, among others. The building has an emergency fire exit, but it is also not well-marked, narrow and unclean.
On the top floor where Manzar is located, boards and cardboard boxes are kept at the fire exit that TBS witnessed on Sunday's visit.
Khanas also failed to mark its emergency fire exit well. According to Rabbi Hasan, the in charge of the restaurant, they have already spoken to the building owner regarding this.
"However, we regularly brief our employees on fire accidents. Every day we take at least half an hour before starting our operation to check the fire extinguishers and electricity lines," Rabbi said.
The fire brigade in Bangladesh works in two steps. One, when there is a fire incident, the brigade fights it and rescues the victims. The other involves checking a building plan to see whether it is compliant or not, whether it has active and passive fire systems, if the building has proper evacuation routes, etc.
"The problem here is that these protocols are not followed properly. Due to the lack of regular inspection, the commercial buildings with restaurants do not follow proper housekeeping. The staircases are generally filled with dirt, and sometimes collapsible gates are kept locked.
All these increase the risk of fire incidents", Ali Ahmed Khan said.
He said the inhabitants or the employees in these buildings should be provided with at least some basic fire safety training. Whenever they leave the station, they should check if the stair evacuation route is clean, fire systems are properly operational, and electrical lines and other equipment are properly disconnected and placed safely.
"And not just restaurants and high-rise buildings, according to my survey, the hospitals, markets, private universities and diagnostic centres are not properly compliant in this city," added Ali Ahmed Khan.
According to the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) article 3.8b, restaurants and other places should have 1.25 m2 (meter squared) of floor space allotted for every seat, excluding the dancing floor and stage. Adequate aisles should be maintained at all times to reach exits without obstruction.
"While as architects we follow several guidelines, there are no formal regulations regarding the interior of a restaurant. Most of these spaces use furniture and false ceilings made of synthetic materials, which catch fire fast," said Adil.
Urban Planner Adil Mohammed Khan earlier told TBS how the escalation of the Bailey Road fire could be attributed to restaurants decorated with flammable materials. "The [Bailey Road] fire engulfed the whole building within 15-20 minutes. In general, a fire should take at least 30 minutes to spread to outer walls [from where it is generated]."
"It was only last year when BNBC included the mechanical guidelines for restaurants that include electromechanical, structural, and plumbing safety guidelines for architects. However, there are still no formal regulations," said Adil.
Adil also argued against glass-made buildings in humid and warm countries like Bangladesh. "I strongly believe if the Bailey Road building had windows and proper ventilation, at least people wouldn't be suffocated by smoke this much," he said.
