The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, police, Dhaka South City Corporation and Fire Service authorities in separate drives on Monday closed dozens of restaurants and a building for lacking fire safety and using spaces designated for other purposes.
Rajuk, in a drive, sealed off 10 restaurants, disconnected the electricity supply to six restaurants, and demolished a rooftop restaurant on a 14-storey building called Gawsia Twin Peak in the capital’s Dhanmondi area.
The move came days after the deadly fire incident in the Bayley Road building Green Cozy Cottage housing several restaurants, which left 46 people killed and many others injured.
Rajuk Zone-3 director Tazina Sarwar, also a deputy secretary, led the drive when she also fined Spice and Herbs restaurant Tk 2 lakh for running the restaurant in a space approved for only offices.
The drive continued from 11:00am to 5:00pm.
‘We have closed the operations of these restaurants as the building approval plan allowed there only offices, not restaurants. We have demolished Retro Live Kitchen for using the rooftop, which is in the plan mentioned as an open space,’ she said.
She said that they would continue such drives in the coming days.
The mobile court, led by Tazina, had to wait for about an hour in the building as Rajuk officials had forgotten to bring the equipment required for sealing off errant restaurants.
Rajuk sealed off Galitos, Cafe Dolce, Adi Korai Gorai Gosto Ltd, Cafe Sao Paulo Limited, The Lobby Lounge, Yum Cha District, Culture and Cuisine, Spice and Herbs, Chaap Ghor, and Kavan Signature.
The city development authority snapped electricity connections to the Pan Pacific Lounge, Pan Pacific Kitchen, Aristocrat Lounge, White Hall Buffet, Meritage Dhaka, and Retro Live Kitchen.
Space and Herbs restaurant owner Raisul Alam, who was fined Tk 2 lakh during the Rajuk drive, regretted that they had obtained a trade licence and clearance from the Fire Service and other government authorities, but yet their business was closed.
‘If there was any flaw, the authorities should have fined the landowners, not me. Rajuk fined me as I was present in the building among the restaurant owners,’ he said.
Raisul said that he started his business in January, investing Tk 55 lakh after he got the trade licence from the Dhaka South City Corporation in November last year.
Sharmila Islam, one of the eight owners of the building, said that drive against the restaurants was untimely.
‘They [the authorities] should have given us notice so that we could address the issues. Many restaurant employees will now be unemployed ahead of Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr,’ she said.
Gawsia Twin Peak Owners Association general secretary Md Abul Ehsan Anwar, also the owner of the Pan Pacific Lounge, told New Age that the drive was conducted without any prior notice.
‘We are also sad about the Bayley Road fire incident, as no death is desirable. If Rajuk had informed us before, we could have followed the rules. We have been doing business here since 2020,’ he said.
Anwar alleged that police arrested 17 managers of different restaurants on Sunday evening after inviting them to attend a meeting.
‘All of them were produced before the court on Monday, and the court sent them to jail,’ he added.
Dhanmondi police station officer-in-charge, Md Parvez Islam, said that they had arrested them on the allegation of keeping gas cylinders on stairs and ignoring fire safety rules.
The OC said that they had produced them before the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court and the court ordered sending them to jail.
Asked why they arrested restaurant managers instead of restaurant or landowners, he said, ‘We are acting following our legal jurisdiction. Rajuk and City Corporation are taking action against land or restaurant owners.’
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Wari Division deputy commissioner Md Iqbal Hossain said that they had detained 16 restaurant employees during a drive in the area for not having adequate fire safety, a lack of fire safety equipment, and doing restaurant business in residential buildings.
In another joint drive, the Dhaka South City Corporation and Fire Service and Civil Defence closed the entire 15-storey Keari Crescent Tower housing 11 restaurants in the capital’s Dhanmondi for a lack of fire safety.
The DSCC also fined an organisation called Visa World Wide Tk 3 lakh in the building for lacking fire safety.
The Buffet Empire, Buffet Lounge, and Buffet Paradise were fined one lakh each in Rupayan ZR Plaza.
DSCC executive magistrate Md Jahangir Alam led the drive.
‘We are conducting drives jointly with the Fire Service. We have closed the building as there is no emergency exit, cylinders were kept on stairs, and the rooftop was also locked,’ Jahangir told reporters at the scene.
The fire service hung up a notice in front of the building for not having fire safety.-New Age
