Fire Hazards: 6 restaurants, building sealed off in the capital

Government agencies yesterday sealed off six restaurants, a building, and fined nine eateries and a building in the capital.

Drives were conducted for the second consecutive day after a deadly fire at the Green Cozy Cottage Shopping Mall on the night of February 29 killed 46 people.

The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) closed four restaurants, fined another eatery and a shopping mall adjacent to the fire-hit building on the capital's Bailey Road.

A team of Rajuk, led by Executive Magistrate Mohammad Monir Hossain Hawlader, shut down Nababi Bhoj, Sultan's Dine, Roaster Café, and Pizza Mastan, and imposed fines on Swiss Bakery and Capital Siraj Centre Shopping Mall.

The shopping mall owner was fined Tk 2 lakh as its documents related to fire safety had expired, the magistrate told reporters.

Nababi Bhoj was sealed off for operating without permission, he added.

The team closed three other eateries -- Sultan's Dine, Roaster Café, and Pizza Mastan -- as they failed to show the required documents for running their business, the magistrate said, adding that further decisions would be made after getting the relevant papers.

The magistrate said they could not raid most of the buildings that house restaurants as those were found closed.

The Rajuk team also fined Swiss Bakery Tk 1 lakh for not having fire safety measures.

The drive began around 11:00am and ended around 2:30pm.

Meanwhile, a mobile court of Dhaka South City Corporation sealed off a 12-storey building called Sky View Nightingale Tower in Khilgaon's Taltola, as it lacked fire safety measures.

The fire service and local police assisted DSCC Executive Magistrate Md Jahangir Alam in the drive, which started around 11:30am.

When the team gathered in front of a building, most of the restaurants pulled down roller shutters. An eatery worker was shouting to his fellows, "Pull down the shutters, the magistrate is here."

A building that houses several eateries remained closed since Monday night, said locals.

A notice seen at the entrance to the building said, "The restaurant has temporarily been closed due to maintenance work."

Talking to journalists, magistrate Jahangir said the Sky View Nightingale Tower has restaurants on every floor, which is a violation of the rules. "We even found a restaurant in the basement, which is risky. We didn't find the owners of the building and restaurants. Some employees were there, but nobody could provide us with any papers."

"For this, we sealed off the entire building. We will call the owners to our office and find a way how the building can be run as per the law."

In separate drives, Dhaka North City Corporation shut down two eateries and slapped fines on eight others in Gulshan, Bhatara, and Mirpur.  

In another development, Dhaka Metropolitan Police raided 455 restaurants, 104 LPG shops, and three chemical warehouses.

During the raids, the DMP filed five cases for various violations, including lacking fire safety measures, according to a press release.