Bangladesh Secretariat – the center point of the government is in fire risk where there are offices of the Prime Minister and other ministers as well. When people of the country look at this heart of the administration to know what decisions come about fire risk and tremor risk then that secretariat itself is in fire and tremor risks!
There are about eight to nine buildings in this administrative hub. No one is below five storied. Of these, the building no. 6 is 20 storied. On Monday (May13) the Fire Service and Civil Defense department demonstrated an awareness rehearsal. The rehearsal was conducted under the supervision of the Additional secretary of protection and service division of the Home ministry Pradip Ranjan Chakravarty. The rehearsal contained how to save oneself from fire and tremor in a multi-storied building.
Dhaka division deputy director of Fire Service and Civil Defense Devashish Bardhan told Barta 24.com regarding rehearsal that if this type of awareness is practiced every month then the risks in each building will minimize. Even there is any fire incident then the residents themselves will be able to extinguish the fire. Gradually we will go to other buildings.
In reply to a question that whether the building no. 6 is risky, avoiding direct reply he said there is some object of this rehearsal. Earlier we sent letters to the ministry identifying the weaknesses of each building. After this rehearsal we will again write to the ministry. We will submit reports within a week after survey.
The Fire Service official said that if there is fire incident in any multi-storied building then we need a specialized van whose size is big and high. But that type of van cannot enter into the secretariat through all gates. This is one kind of obstacle. Another obstacle is the walking bridges of the secretariat. The van cannot enter through all gates while it can enter through only by the eastern side and from the press club side. We will inform these problems.
In reply to the question that whether the secretariat is in risk then it is risky in preventing fire incidents and in tremors also.
The machines and equipment used in the rehearsal included two wheeler, water mix, four wheeler, water filled vans, ambulance, emergency tender, rescue team and first aid team.