Lessons from the Palashbari tragedy

What happened in Palashbari, Savar a few days ago reiterated once again the complete lack of seriousness within relevant government Agencies responsible for monitoring the burgeoning construction industry in this country. As anticipated, one after another, several Departments came up with excuses to cover their administrative inefficiency and corruption.

Unfortunately, their arguments will not restore life to more than one hundred persons who perished in the ill-fated collapse of the nine-storey building belonging to Spectrum Sweater and Knitwear Industry.

This tragedy shocked and alarmed the nation in general and the people of megapolis Dhaka in particular. It also raised many questions about a man-made disaster where nature underlined once again the need for following proper building codes and structural regulations.

This unfortunate event has also brought into sharp focus the need for re-evaluating housing safety in mega-cities like Dhaka, or for that matter in Chittagong.

Dhaka was a city of about one million inhabitants in 1972. Since then, its population has grown to about fourteen million. In fact, today, according to some demographers, it has about ten per cent of the entire country's population.

This has necessitated massive construction not only for additional residential, shopping and office requirements but also for Ready Made Garment factories and SME units. These industrial units have become the work place for nearly one million persons and are located in different parts of the city and its suburbs. This includes even posh residential areas like Banani and Gulshan. Certain parts of Old Dhaka are also not immune from their presence.

The need to create space for such semi-industrial and industrial enterprises has led many urban planners toward indiscriminate usage of scarce land. This relentless quest for working area has meant not only construction going vertical but also the filling up of low-lying wetlands all around Dhaka city. Ponds, canals and natural water discharge areas are being hastily filled up with soil and sand. Subsequently, piling is initiated before building foundations.

I do not have any objection to using reclaimed land for construction. This is done all over the world in densely populated countries. Singapore and Netherlands are both excellent examples. Rapid urbanisation has led to similar construction in many southern States of the USA and also in Brazil. There is no harm if the rules are strictly followed and careful scrutiny undertaken by the relevant authorities to ensure that there is no breach.

Unfortunately for us, none of these postulates are being observed.

One shudders to think as to what might happen to Dhaka if it suffers a major earthquake. After the Palashbari incident, I was discussing this prospect with some of my friends who are structural and civil engineers. They are conservative in their thinking and seriously professional. One of them said that an earthquake of above seven in the Richter scale might lead to the destruction of nearly forty per cent of all construction above five floors. Another translated this for me into demographic figures. Their estimate was that nearly a million people would be affected and that more likely than not, a quarter of them would die because of lack of rescue provisions. We are talking here of hundreds of thousands. I must admit that I was horrified.

In the last few days, I have undertaken my own research and found to my dismay that our Fire Service and potential rescue teams are most poorly equipped in terms of recovery machines as well as disaster training. A Fire Service officer pointed out to me that the factory in Palashbari was just one building of nine floors and that different groups had worked on this accident without pause for nearly two weeks with all available equipment. Yet, the progress had been painfully slow and inadequate. In this context, he referred to a recent earthquake in Turkey, and asked me what would happen in Dhaka, if three or four of the many fifteen storied residential buildings collapsed. I had no answer. He then elaborated that most of the electrical circuitry were faulty and of low-grade, and would definitely lead to fires from escaping gas discharged by damaged gas lines. He also remarked that existing water pressure was poor and would be insufficient in extinguishing such fires. He added that lack of suitable high cranes would also hamper removal of concrete slabs to free trapped residents from higher floors. He ended by noting that the fatality rate would be over eighty per cent of affected inhabitants.

There is no doubt that we have a major problem in our hands and this has to be recognised. We have to fix it. We cannot just continue to talk about it.

The Housing and Public Works Minister and the Chairman of RAJUK have both expressed their unhappiness with the current state of affairs with regard to ensuring safety in the construction sector. The RAJUK Chairman in particular has complained of inadequate manpower. In fact, he has stated that he has only around 50 inspectors to monitor whether the buildings are constructed according to approved design or if piling is done properly. This is just incredible, given the size of Dhaka and the number of constructions going on at any time within the city. No wonder that supervision is inefficient, ineffective and vulnerable to corruption (arising out of greed for inordinate profit) and political influence. He has also stated that RAJUK is unable to oversee construction with regard to usage of standard materials by the contractors who are undertaking approved designs. Apparently, RAJUK acts on sub-standard construction only after it has received a complaint. In this regard, he also pointed out that 'there are some people who want to construct buildings cheaply and for that they prefer sub-standard materials. They do not understand that it is not good.' Such a confession on his part does not enhance the reputation of his organisation or solve the problem.

The Minister for Housing and Public Works has gone one step further. He has stated that in certain situations, action cannot be taken against people who violate approved building plans due to 'stay orders' and other legal complications. This is unfortunate bordering on the absurd. I am confident that the Ministry of Law can seriously examine this criticism made by the Minister. If public safety is under threat due to non-compliance of RAJUK regulations, then the judicial process must protect public interest rather than disregard it.

Various opinions have been aired over the last two weeks as to how the construction industry can be better regulated. I would think that it would be advisable for the government to form an independent Commission empowered to approve the construction of shopping malls and high-rise structures over six floors and issue necessary certificates in this regard. This Commission could be constituted of experts in soil testing and piling operations, civil engineers, structural engineers, electrical and plumbing experts as well as civil society representatives (to safeguard environmental provisions). This Commission could also obtain building and construction codes as practiced in countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and see whether we can improve our own standards.

In this context, it would also be worthwhile to take into account the need for the Ministry of Law to finish scrutiny on a priority basis, and then enact the National Building Code formulated in 1993, unifying and updating all norms regarding building safety. It may be recalled that this code was proposed as a replacement for the outdated Building Construction Act, 1953. Under this system, if any building collapses, then RAJUK can hold the engineers concerned responsible for faulty construction. In addition, such an arrangement can also facilitate the obligation of all high-rise buildings being covered by insurance. In such a situation, the insurance companies, out of their own interest will monitor the design and construction of the building to ensure consistency with building codes.

Another aspect that needs to be addressed is the provision of adequate facilities like alternative escape routes and fire escapes. The absence of such facilities has already resulted in several deaths in recent months in different garments factories.

These are of course long term measures. In the meantime, on an urgent basis, the government should recruit at least another two hundred inspectors for RAJUK from different engineering institutions to tackle the problem of monitoring construction with greater efficiency. RAJUK inspection teams should also immediately investigate whether high rises of seven floors and above have actually followed the letters of approved regulations.

The BGMEA should also be asked to set-aside sufficient funds for creation of better safety facilities within establishments where factories are located. At this point of time, we have only seen loud expressions of sympathy from BGMEA and FBCCI but very little in terms of real enforcement of rules to assure worker safety. They should, for a change, understand that welfare of owners is inextricably linked with that of their poorly paid workers. If they do not understand this, public opinion, which matters a lot abroad (in the importing countries) might force importers to seek other avenues of supply. It must be remembered that the issues of compliance with labour safety and welfare laws have become important in the post-MFA era.

Last, but not the least, is the need to set up a brisk, meaningful enquiry into the whole sordid affair of the construction of the Savar building and the reasons for its collapse. Those responsible for any breach have to be punished severely according to law. Similarly, those who have suffered, need to be compensated suitably, proportional to the economic loss suffered by the families from the death of their kin.

I know that the cheapest object in Bangladesh is probably a human life, but after Palashbari, for once, let us forget fake expressions of sympathy and concern and show some degree of responsibility and real accountability. I reiterate this sentiment one day ahead of May Day, the International Labour Day. We owe it to the workers of our country.

Muhammad Zamir is a former Secretary and Ambassador -- any response to [email protected]