321 Dhaka buildings risky, yet in use
Thousands of people visit the Dhaka North City Corporation Zone-5 office (Karwan Bazar) every day to obtain its services, unaware of the dangers they might face.
A portion of DNCC's zonal building's roof has collapsed several times, with cracks in the pillars and plaster falling off in 24 rooms. Additionally, electrical wires on the walls make the site a potential death trap for anyone who visits or works in the office.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case, with 321 buildings in the capital identified by the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha (Rajuk) as earthquake-prone and highly vulnerable.
"Since my room is too risky, I'm working in the executive engineer's room. I abandoned the room last year since I cannot work there," said Mutakabbir Ahmed, executive officer of zone-5 under DNCC.
Mutakabbir said the condition of this building is deteriorating every day. "It is scary to work in the office, as several accidents have occurred in many buildings in Dhaka recently."
On April 27, 2016, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief's Earthquake Preparedness and Awareness Committee (EPAC) decided to demolish such buildings, instructing Rajuk, DNCC, and Dhaka South City Corporation to put up sign boards indicating the risks and disconnecting utility services such as gas, water, electricity, and telephone lines.
Additionally, as per the decision, the regional office and its utility services ceased operation. Nevertheless, DNCC displayed apathy towards its own safety by neglecting the committee's order.
However, despite identifying these buildings six years ago, three authorities -- Rajuk, DNCC, and DSCC -- are yet to take any action regarding these buildings located in densely populated areas. They have not even put up any banners.
Contacted, DSCC spokesperson Abu Naser said he is unaware of the list and present condition of the listed buildings.
Another six-storey building called "Sardar Villa" under DSCC, located on North-South Road -- one kilometre away from the exploded building in Siddik Bazar -- was also deemed risky.
During a recent visit, this correspondent found a large steel shop on the ground floor of the building, and private companies on the two upper floors, while the remaining four floors are rented apartments.
There is hardly enough space to get to the entrance stairway of the building. There are hundreds of shops and houses built around it. The building looks like it was constructed with low-quality materials.
Al Amin Hossain, a shopkeeper of a steel shop on the building's ground floor, has been doing business with a trade license from DSCC for seven years.
He said neither the house owner nor any government officials informed him that the building was risky.
Meanwhile, around 1.3 kilometres away, on Northbrook Hall Road, an old two-storey building with five electronic shops, has broken walls and cracks.
Despite some renovations, the building remains in poor condition. Several families are living on the second floor and five electronic shops exist on the building's ground floor.
This correspondent attempted to talk to the residents living in the house but they declined to comment on the matter.
However, Jamal Hossain, who has a shop in the building, said, "I'm doing business following DSCC's rules. But I was not aware that the building was in poor condition."
Meanwhile, Rajuk has turned a blind eye to the situation, despite the increasing number of risky buildings and the potential threat they pose.
Asked, Mobarok Hossain, director (Development Control-1) of Rajuk, was unaware of this building list.
He said, "It's not our [Rajuk] job to demolish buildings, city corporations do this work."
Meanwhile, two city corporations have been reported to allow facilities and businesses to operate in such hazardous buildings.
Contacted, Selim Reza, chief executive officer of DNCC, said they have decided to take an initiative to demolish a risky building and the work will begin soon.
"Some work has already been carried out as per the instructions given in 2016," he said.
Experts warn that constructing buildings that don't follow building codes and failing to monitor them is Dhaka's biggest vulnerability.
Prof Adil Mohammed Khan of urban and regional planning at Jahangirnagar University expressed his concern over Rajuk's and city corporations' lack of action, despite preparing a list of risky buildings.
He said, "Urgent action is needed to prevent a possible disaster, and the responsibility lies with these authorities to act promptly."
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