Bailey Road fire: HC orders authorities to form probe body
Special Correspondent :
The High Court on Monday blasted the authorities concerned for their failure and inaction to prevent the incidents of devastating fires in the buildings including Green Cozy Cottage at Bailey Road in Dhaka where 46 people were killed and several others injured on February 29.
“There are laws and rules including the Fire Prevention and Extinguishing Act, 2003 and the Bangladesh National Building Code, 2020 in order to prevent such incidents of fire and to save the lives of people.
However, those are not enforced and not followed properly which is very unfortunate.
It was seen that LPG cylinders had been kept abruptly in the building at Bailey Road that caused the devastating fire killing and injuring the many people.
How the owners got permission to run restaurants and commercial operations in the building and it must be found out,” HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque said during hearing two separate writ petitions involving the issue of fire.
With making this expression, the HC bench formed a seven-member committee in order to find out the reasons behind the incidents of fires and negligence of enforcing the laws and rules, prevent the incident of fire and to ensure safety measures in the buildings and to find out what steps have been taken against the vulnerable buildings in the city in Dhaka.
The committee has been ordered to submit a report in four months to this effect.
The body includes representatives from the home secretary, inspector general of police, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and Dhaka North and South City Corporations, the HC said in the order.
The HC also ordered RAJUK and FSCD to set up signboards on vulnerable buildings in Dhaka so that people can be aware of the risks when entering them.
The pronounced the directives following two separate writ petitions filed by two Supreme Court lawyers Md Eunus Ali Akond and Ishrat Jahan on March 3 seeking necessary directives to form expert committee to probe the tragic incident.
The HC court also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned of the government to explain why their failure to set up fire exits in the Bailey Road building should not be declared illegal.
Writ petitioners Eunus Ali Akond and Ishrat Jahan themselves moved their petitions while Deputy Attorney General Amit Das Gupta represented the state during the hearing.
Meanwhile yesterday, another HC bench issued a rule for proving adequate compensation to the families of the victims who were killed and injured in the fire at Bailey Road.
In the rule, the court asked the director general of FSCD and RAJUK chairman and Md Anwarul Hoque, owner of Restaurant Cha Chumuk, Green Cozy Cottage, to explain why they should not be directed to provide compensation to the families of those bereaved and those injured for the devastating loss and damage suffered by them in the Bailey Road Fire.
The HC bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah issued the following a writ petition filed by rights organisations-Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and Ain O Salish Kendra and Supreme Court lawyer Najmus Sakib, relative of a fire victim, seeking necessary directives.
The HC also directed the FSCD and RAJUK to submit a report on how many high-rise buildings were caught by fires, how many people were killed and injured in those incidents of fire and how much damages took place in 2023 and 2024 to this court.
Lawyers Sara Hossain and Aneek R Haque appeared for the writ petitioners while Assistant Attorney General Md Selim Azad represented the state.
