Fire safety in Uttara restaurant hub: A deadly combination of risky structures and apathetic staff

Saiful Islam, the manager of Shiraj Chui Gosto located on the third floor of a six-story building at the Uttara House Building intersection, greeted me with a tired smile last Tuesday afternoon.

He could see from the ID card hanging from my neck that I was a journalist. Also, it was obvious that I had come to gather information about the fire safety situation of the eatery, as this was basically what most Dhaka journalists had been doing for the last few days, following the Bailey Road tragedy.

"You're not the first. Inspectors from the Fire Service are also here," Saiful informed me, gesturing towards a corner table where four uniformed members of the Fire Service were sitting and doing some paperwork. 

Each of them was served a glass of Pista Sharbat, the best drink that the eatery could offer. The building's manager, an elderly Abdul Kuddus, sat in front of them with an expression that made it seem he had been charged with some serious criminal offence.  

Photo: Mehedi Hasan

As I approached them, one of the inspectors, identified as Manoj Kumar on his nameplate, alongside his blood group, expressed his astonishment. "Who told you that we would be here?"

I smiled. "It's just a coincidence. Looking from the outside, it wasn't really rocket science to assume that this building is not fit to house restaurants. So, I came here to assess the situation myself. Little did I know you too would be here at this hour."

Indeed, the six-story building did not seem ideal to house restaurants. It had the appearance of a residential building, or at best, a building for offices. Nonetheless, this building accommodated as many as four eateries: The Dining Lounge, Shiraj Chui Gosto, Kacchi Darbar, and Spring Onion.

Manoj got lost in his thoughts for a moment and then said, "Please wait until we fill out the papers. Then we will begin the inspection."

After about 10 minutes, the four inspectors proceeded to enter the restaurant's kitchen. Then, they inspected the interior and the stairways. Needless to say, I also tagged along. However, it didn't really take them more than a few minutes to take a glance and reach a conclusion. 

Once done, they briefed the restaurant manager and the building manager about their findings. They identified three major issues: the lack of a fire alarm system, inadequate firefighting training among the employees, and the absence of an emergency exit.

The managers were instructed to take necessary actions within a month to install a fire alarm system and add an emergency exit upon receiving approval from Rajuk. Additionally, it was suggested that employees of the restaurant visit the Fire Service headquarter in groups to learn first-hand about fire drill procedures.

According to the inspectors, the scenario was more or less the same in almost every eatery in Uttara. Three of their teams had been inspecting all the risky establishments of this area since morning. 

This wasn't really news to me, for I too had been going from one restaurant to another since morning, to understand what the real picture of the Uttara eateries was.

I started the day by recceing the entire Uttara area to mark which buildings housing restaurants were at highest risk. After reaching Sector-12, I had a gut feeling that a six-story building housing Papa Chino's The Grill Master, Snaxy, Crush Station and Cafe Darbar, must be the most vulnerable in the entire neighbourhood. 

To put things into perspective, the building was directly across from a branch of Milestone School and College, with several other educational institutions, including two private universities and a kindergarten school, nearby. Given that students from these institutions are the primary customers of these eateries, one can only imagine the consequences in the event of a disaster.

As I entered the building and headed straight to the top floor where Cafe Darbar was located, it became evident that my intuition was correct. The manager, Raju Mohammad, appeared visibly agitated at first. "You needn't worry, we're already closed for the day," he told me, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Photo: Mehedi Hasan

But why? Initially, the manager and other staff of the restaurant bluffed that they had voluntarily closed it to enhance their fire safety measures. However, I persisted in requesting to have a look in their kitchen and the rooftop. 

After a lengthy back-and-forth, they relented and disclosed that their gas cylinders were stored on the rooftop. Consequently, both the Fire Service and the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection mandated the closure of the entire building.

Was the rooftop in a very risky state? "Not at all," claimed Raju. But then at one point, he agreed to take me to the rooftop. Turns out, gas cylinders were not only haphazardly scattered on the floor in a dangerous manner, the rooftop was also used for dining in, while it had a kitchen as well. 

That means, besides the lack of an emergency exit, the dangerous rooftop made sure customers and employees had no means of escape or shelter if a fire ever broke out. 

A visibly uncomfortable Raju then escorted me to the basement and showed where they intended to keep the gas cylinders from now onwards. But he wasn't sure what might happen if fire broke out there. 

"I am just an employee. Do I really have any authority?" He sounded helpless. I requested him to provide me contact numbers of the "real authority". He was reluctant to do that either. "What if I lose my job tomorrow?"

Meanwhile, Kacchi Bhai, whose Bailey road branch caught fire recently, also had its presence in Uttara, on the Zamzam Tower intersection. And visibly, the condition of its Uttara branch was no less dangerous. 

When I entered the five-story building where this restaurant was housed, the elevator was turned off. So I used the staircase, which was so narrow that it was impossible for more than two people to use them side by side. And of course, there wasn't any emergency exit in sight either. 

But the biggest surprise was awaiting me in the kitchen. Whereas most other restaurants in Uttara had their gas cylinders either on the rooftop, in the basement or outside the building, Kacchi Bhai's gas cylinders were right outside its kitchen, above big water filled bowls, to prevent them from becoming too hot. 

Photo: Mehedi Hasan

When I queried about this to the branch manager Shafiqul Islam, his response was rather passive aggressive. "There are thousands of restaurants in Dhaka city that keep gas cylinders in the kitchens. Do they catch fire every now and then?"
 
Also, he informed me that only four or five staff among the 23 of this branch knew how to use the fire extinguishers they had. 

When I asked him what might happen in the event of a fire, he once again presented me with a mocking smile. "You are asking me all these questions only because we are in trouble now. Where were you before?"

I tried to reason with him how we work for public interest, but he appeared indifferent to such logic. He took out several business cards of different journalists from his wallet and said, "I've been dealing with journalists every other hour since last Friday. Please give me a break!"

So I bid him goodbye and made my way to the top floor of the building, where Kazi Kitchen was situated. To my surprise, it had already closed for the day by then. It's anyone's guess why. 

Of all the restaurants in Uttara I visited throughout the day, only KFC's fire safety measures felt satisfactory, with two entry and exit points. But this too hardly matters, since it was housed only on the first floor, minimising the risk factor anyway.

Overall, starting from the House Building intersection along the Sonargaon Janapath Road, as well as the areas surrounding the Zamzam Tower and Shah Makhdum Avenue, there are nearly 50 restaurants, making this the central restaurant hub of the vicinity. 

But the fire safety conditions in most buildings, alongside their interior design with inflammable objects like plywood and plastics, tell us that if significant improvements are not made promptly, another fire tragedy might arrive any day, any time.