The government's fire service organisation found 329 public and private buildings across the country in 2019 hazardous in terms of inadequate and poor safety measures.
The Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence Department (BFSCD) officials suspended cautionary banners in front of the buildings due to their inadequate fire safety measures.
The department as part of its routine work puts up banners in front of such structures warning the people about fire risks and drawing attention to the poor safety measures.
Of the total, 55 establishments were found the most hazardous. Of them, 10 were housing public offices and 45 others were private establishments, according to the data available with the BFSCD.
The establishments included multi-storied buildings, commercial complexes, markets, industrial units, shopping malls and educational institutions.
Of the remaining 274 hazardous establishments, 254 were private establishments and 20 were government structures.
The department during their inspections also found 209 buildings' safety measures satisfactory. 59 of them were government establishments and 150 private structures, the department's data showed.
The BFSCD launched the inspections as the concerned authorities and owners of establishments did not take any corrective measures, though cautionary notices had been served on them several times.
When contacted, Lt. Col. Zillur Rahman, Director (Operation & Maintenance) of the fire department, said it divided buildings in the country into two types-built before 2003 and after.
Most of the buildings were built before 2003. After enactment of the Fire Prevention and Extinction Act 2003, they lacked adequate fire safety measures as there was no law when they built them, he told the FE.
The buildings, which have been built since 2003 or 2006 after enforcement of Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) 2006 and enactment of the Fire Prevention and Extinction Act 2003, have satisfactory fire safety measures, Mr Rahman said.
The fire department receives on an average 250 applications for issuing fire safety cards on both new and old buildings in a month, he said.
After inspecting the buildings by the inspectors, the department issues fire safety cards, the director said.
After inspecting the buildings, if the inspectors find that the fire safety measures are inadequate, the department serves notices alerting the building owners to the necessity of taking corrective measures, he further said.
After issuance of the notices, if the owners and concerned authorities do not take any measure, then the department puts up cautionary banners in front of the buildings, the fire department director said.
The BFSCD withdraws the banners, when the owners and concerned authorities improve their fire safety and make the buildings completely risk-free, he added.
Architect Mobasher Hossain, former president of Institute of Architects, Bangladesh, said the move taken by the fire department is praise-worthy.
However, the department should not impose any plan on the owners and concerned authorities which is not befitting in the country's context and circumstances, the urban planner told the FE.
The department should engage the country's experts in this process to do it successfully and without any objection, Mr Hossain said.
The fire department should deploy state-of-the art technologies and equipment to fight fires, Mr Mobasher said.
Fire incidents caused damage to property worth more than Tk 3.30 billion across the country in 2019, the BFSCD data show.
The fire incidents numbering 24,074 in total also left at least 184 people dead and 560 others injured, its data show.
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