1)Introduction:

Dhaka is the city which has glorious past and history of 400 years. The capital of Bangladesh is also known as one of the densely populated cities in the world. Over the years it has developed as the most important urban center of Bangladesh. Most of the important investment and development are highly concentrated in Dhaka and its surrounding areas. Thats why for better scope and better life chances most of the people choose Dhaka. The city is now experiencing continuous growth both in size and population. The rapid growth of population in the city is exerting tremendous pressure on the limited amount of available land. And because of this extra pressure from the population high-rise buildings are constructed like mushrooms for both commercial and residential purpose to fulfill the need of this population (Bangladesh Environment volume one: main report, 2002-03:41). In Dhaka a major concentration of tall buildings is observed in Motijheel. Motijheel is one of the principal commercial areas of Dhaka city. It is situated at the heart of the city and is the center of all economic activities. All the major banks head office and big corporate houses have their office in Motijheel. During dry season occurrences of fire incidence is very common for Dhaka city. Specifically in slums, garment factories and small manufacturing industries. But after the fire incident in the Ntv building in 2007 and fire in Bashundhara city shopping complex on 13 th March, 2009 it is very alarming for us that high rise buildings are also in the risk of fire. Beside this study shows that electrical fault in the buildings is an important reason of causing fire in the Dhaka city (Alam, Md.Jobair.B and Baroi,George N,2004.Fire Hazard categorization and risk assessment for Dhaka city in GIS Framework). Thats why the current study tries to show the condition of Motijheel commercial area which is such an important area of Dhaka when high rise buildings are considered in the great risk of fire1.For study purpose both government and non-government buildings are included and some opinions of the respondents about fire like situation are also given.

Fire is defined as a chemical process involving rapid oxidation of a combustible material producing heat and flame. Fire thus involves a chemical union between oxygen and fuel that has a temperature raised to its ignition point by addition of heat.(Islam,1985:78)

1.1)Rationale of the study:

During this time of rapid urban growth only few works have been done on fire Hazard which is very small considering to the overall fire risk. And no specific work has been found also which is related to the study area. On the other hand the important thing is that most of the high- rise buildings in Dhaka are not in build fire fighting facilities and thats why there is a chance of risk. Beside this in recent times Bangladesh is in a great risk of earthquake and the earthquake disaster risk index has placed Dhaka among the 20 most vulnerable cities in the world (The Daily Star, 6th July, 2004.Earthquake hazard: Dhaka city perspective). It is very shocking because during earthquake any faulty electricity and gas line can also cause serious fire. For this reason the current research has been done to know the situation of fire risk in Motijheel commercial area which is one of the important place of Dhaka and the center of all national level economic activities.

1.2)Objectives of the study:

The main objective of the research was to find out the fire risk in the buildings of Motijheel commercial area. It is the area where the most of the important high rise buildings2 of Dhaka can be found such as Bangladesh Bank, Sena Kalyan Bhaban, Jiban Bima Bhaban, Sonali Bank, Dhaka Stock Exchange etc. and also some other important corporate and commercial offices. Beside this some other issues such as existence of fire warning system in the buildings, peoples knowledge about the fire equipments, their personal experience and opinion about fire hazard3, any visit from fire service, peoples knowledge about existing law on fire drill, condition of gas and electricity lines in the buildings these are the other issues followed during the time of the research.

According to Bangladesh National Building Code 1993, a high rise building has been defined as a building which is more than six storeys or 20 meter high. 3 Fire hazard is define in our country as any fire that was reported to at least one of the fire service stations of Bangladesh Fire service and Civil Defence. (Islam,1985:78)

2) Literature review:
There is no specific research on fire risk in the high rise buildings and also no specific work on fire hazard related with the study area. Only a few newspaper reports, reports in internet blog, articles, a book and journal have been found on fire hazard. According to Islam (1985), the major factors behind fire proneness of the city is that it use highly inflammable material for housing and open flames for cooking, lighting and heating in low income residential areas, maintenance of little or no gap between and among structures, faulty systems of generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and frequent incendiary attacks on vehicles during political disturbances. (Islam, M.Aminul, 1985:75) A study conducted by Alam and Baroi (2004) showed that fire incidence can be occurred through various sources. In their study they showed that out of 670 fire incidence in 2001, 37% of the cases the cause remained unknown and under investigation. In Dhaka maximum number of fire incidence caused by electrical fault which accounted for 34% of the total incidence. Highest number of fire incidence caused by gas occurred in hazardous and less hazardous zone. For about 15% cases fire incidents are caused by cigarettes, machines heat, kitchen, candles and mosquito coils. A report published by The Daily Star on 21st May, 2006 about a seminar which was jointly organized by Department of Architecture of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and The Daily Star. The report quoted some of the Architecture studentsSharmin Sultana who presented her paper on safety and security in office buildings said most office buildings even in the most posh areas of the city do not have enough security and safety measures. "Sena Kalyan Bhaban, for example, is rich in security equipment, but the alternative stair went through the toilets, which is slippery and risky to run during any accident," she noted. Even in BRAC Inn Centre the main lift and the main stair are together while people do not have easy access to the alternative stair and its width is also not sufficient, she added. Almost 90 percent office buildings in the city have been wrongly planned and lack awareness of safety rules.

Beside this existing data shows that incidence of fire hazard in Dhaka is increasing year after year Table-1 Number of fire incidences in Dhaka city Year Total Fire incidence Source: BFSCD, 2001 and the New Age, 2007 In a recent article which is published in The Daily Star on 18th April, 2009 the author showed that the 17-storied Al-Amin Centre at Dilkusha, constructed in 2001 has two staircases. But unfortunately, the so-called dedicated 'Fire Escape' is only up to the 10th floor and not in regular use. Therefore the users from 11 to 17 floors have ONE staircase. Moreover, the staircases are separated by a distance of 3m (10 feet) and both the staircases continue up to the basement. In another report of The Daily Star they showed that most of the multi-storey buildings in the city are dangerously exposed to fire disasters as they lack adequate firefighting equipment and properly trained personnel. On the other hand study shows risk situation in some high rise buildings such as Jiban Bima tower. The twenty-storey tower installed the fire safety gear during the construction of the Tower at Dilkusha. But it already becomes inoperative and it is rendering completely vulnerable to the fire, said officials and security guards of different offices housed in the building. The building has an emergency exit but most of the doors of different floors leading to the emergency exit remain closed round the clock. The hydrants on different floors set up during its construction have also been out of order for ages, they added. And also the fire extinguishers are not available on most of the floors. 1995 736 1996 809 1997 768 1998 734 1999 782 2000 806 2001 833 2002 2003 1861 2004 2053 2005 2279

3) Theoretical framework:
Giddens (2006) said the process of industrialization generated the concept of urbanization where a large number of populations move toward cities and towns. Later the development of modern cities has had an enormous impact not only on habits and modes of behaviour but on pattern and thoughts of feeling. On that time cities were seen the fount of dynamism and cultural creativity. Cities maximize opportunities for economic and cultural development and provide the means of living a comfortable and satisfying existence. According to Gunther (1981) and Dodge (1996) fire is one of the earliest innovations of civilization and an essential part of our existence on the earth. Still it is the dreaded demon which burns everything into ashes when it gets out of control. Fire can cause widespread destruction within no time and is one of the most feared scourges of modern civilization. Although fire hazards cannot be fully eliminated, corresponding risk can be minimized by better preparedness and well planned mitigation strategies developed on the basis of comprehensive analysis based on his spatial, temporal and causal pattern. It is vital that hazard level be assessed in order to understand the spatiality of fire hazards and enable distribution of the optimum dynamic resources in a balanced manner. Rayners (1992) view on this matter is that emergency services need current information to provide quick and adequate response. Such information includes spatial details on land-use, functions of structures, access network and availability of resources. To combat the menace of fire hazard it is required to integrate the spatial context and potential population exposure together with technical and engineering aspects. Blakie (1994) says that the concept of vulnerability is important during the time of fire hazard. It is encompassing the physical relationship between hazards and communities at risk, accident preparedness and the mitigation and the social geography of potentially affected populations.

4) Methodology:
For conducting the research a questionnaire was made for interview where the pattern of the questions was unstructured. Through the questionnaire the main intention was to find out all possible answers related with fire hazard. That means to know the level of fire risk in the study area. The method applied here was mixed method. Because the questionnaire was contained with both qualitative and quantitative type of questions to find out both type of data. And for this reason during data analysis both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied here. Motijheel commercial area is a big area and the population of the commercial area represents the universe of the study. For study purpose six buildings were chosen from the study area as sampling unit. The buildings are Sena Kalyan Bhaban, Peoples Insurance Company Limited; ALICO Building (American Life Insurance Company), Jiban Bima Bhaban, Rahman Chember.All type of employees of these offices was included for interview such as people from upper and lower rank of these offices. From the employees directly eighteen people were chosen as sample for interview where sampling technique was random. The buildings were chosen because of easy access, all have importance and all situated in a position that if any fire occurred they can pose great threat to others and can also fell in vulnerable situation. For collecting data only interview technique was applied here. The entire respondent gave face to face interview. During the time of interview the questionnaire was used as a guideline and beside the selected questions some other questions were also asked to the respondents on the basis of the nature of their answer. After the overall data collection all the data is analyzed manually. The major limitation of the study was the small sample size and absence of any specific theory related with the topic. Considering to the overall boundary of the study area very small number of buildings are covered for study. Besides this absence of building authorities opinion on fire fighting facilities of the building and failure to get any opinion of the nearest fire station officials is another limitation the study.

5) Importance of the study area:

During this time of rapid population growth urban boundaries are enhancing haphazardly. Thats why any area of Dhaka can be under the risk of fire. According to DFID (Department for International Development) fire is the fourth largest disaster of Bangladesh. There is an argument that most of the structures of Dhaka during the time of construction didnt follow the rules and regulation. On the other hand in most of the commercial and residential buildings there are many electricity lines, gas line and highly powerful chemicals are also used where any carelessness can cause fire(Bangladesh: Disaster report,2001:147). Beside this crisis of water is another problem during fire situation because in most of the areas the extra source of water such as Pond, swamps are filled with earth for establishing new structure. For the current study Motijheel is chosen not only because it is the important economic center of Bangladesh but also it can fell into all the assumptions make for fire risk. The most important thing is that some of the buildings of the area can also play an important role to show others how to take preparation for fire like situation. Beside this presence of Bangabhaban, offices of some important national Daily, renowned educational institutions such as Ideal school and college and Notre Dame College and the Kamalapur Railway Station which is close to the area also increase the significance of the area.

Figure-1 Boundary of Motijheel Area.

6) Major findings of the study:

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For conducting the research the major limitation was that the sample size was too small. Though both government and non-government buildings are chosen for study but considering to the total area of Motijheel only 6 buildings are covered for the study. But still some important findings are come out from the conducted research which included the respondents knowledge about their office, the overall fire fighting facilities of the buildings, occurrence of any fire drill, respondents knowledge about nearest fire station, condition of the gas and electricity lines, incidence of any fire service inspection, precautionary measurement for fire like situation, respondents personal experience in fire and some of their opinion about their working places for preventing fire situation.

6.1)Fire fighting facilities in the buildings:

The main intention of the study was to see the risk of fire in the buildings of Motijheel. Thats why respondents were asked about the existing facilities in the buildings for control fire situation. Questions were asked on the fire fighting equipments and respondents knowledge about those equipments. Considering the overall study among the six buildings of the study area three buildings such as Sena Kalyan Bhaban, Peoples Insurance Company Limited and ALICO building have better fire fighting facilities. On the other hand among the other 3 buildings only Sonali Bank has fire extinguishers and other two have no such facilities in the building. Table 2 Patten of the buildings Existence of proper fire fighting facilities Absence of proper fire fighting facilities Total Source: Field work, 2009. Government 2 2 Non-Government 3 1 4 Total 3 3 6

6.2) Existence of the Hydrant Box:

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Hydrant box is a necessary item for every building in modern time. The respondents were asked about the existence of hydrant box in their building. The answer was categorized into two categories. This is also shown by a table below. Table-3 Answer of the respondents Yes No Total Source: Field Work, 2009. Seven of the respondents said that in their building they have hydrant box and eleven of the respondents said that they have no hydrant box. All the seven respondents are from Peoples building and Sena Kalyan Bhaban. The most important thing is that all the respondents were able to specify the position of the hydrant box. Number of the respondents 07 11 18

Hydrant box

6.3) Existence of fire extinguisher:

Fire extinguisher is the most important thing for fire like situation in both commercial and residential buildings. The respondents were asked about the 11

existence of fire extinguisher, number of extinguisher in per floor and also their knowledge about how to handle it. Table-4 Existence of fire extinguisher Yes No Total Source: Field work, 2009. Among the respondents thirteen said that they have fire extinguisher and another five said they have no extinguisher in the building. The important thing is that one of the respondents said that in the building they have only one fire extinguisher which is not working and without any expiry date. Another respondent in the same building said that the other offices in the building may have fire extinguisher. Number of respondents 13 05 18

6.3.1) Number of fire extinguisher:

The important thing is that five of the buildings of the study area have fire extinguisher. Only in the branch office of the Jiban Bima Bhaban no extinguisher was found. The number of extinguisher was counted on the basis of per floor.
Total Number of Extinguisher(Per Floor)

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Peoples Insurance Company ALICO Building Sena Kalyan Bhaban 4 5 8

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Sonali Bank

Jiban Bima Bhaban

Rahman chamber

Name of the Buildings

Figure-2 12

Source: Field work, 2009 Figure shows that in the Peoples Insurance Building there are four fire extinguishers in per floor and in the ALICO building they have five extinguishers. In the Sena Kalyan Bhaban the number of extinguisher vary from 7/8 in per floor. In Jiban Bima Bhaban only one extinguisher was found. The building of Sonali Bank is divided into two parts. The ground floor and 1st and 2nd floor is the local branch of the bank and 3rd to 7th floor is the central part of the bank. The study area was the ground floor and twenty four extinguishers are allotted for the floor. According to the Establish and Engineering Division there are 41 extinguishers in the local branch and 79 extinguishers for the central branch of the bank. And no extinguisher was found in the Rahman Chamber though the building is nine storeys and situated in an important part of Motijheel.

6.3.2) Condition of the extinguishers:

The important thing is that though most of the buildings of the study area have fire extinguisher facilities but among them only in The Peoples building, Sena Kalyan Bhaban and in The ALICO building it is found that they regularly checked the condition of the extinguisher and also change the extinguisher after the date of expiry. But in the case of the other buildings existence of such activities is not found.

6.3.3) Respondents knowledge on fire extinguisher:

Whether the respondents have any knowledge on using fire extinguisher or not is another important findings of the study. Table-5 Respondents knowledge on fire extinguisher Yes No Total Source: Field work, 2009. Number of respondents 06 12 18

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From the study it is found that only six respondents know how to use fire extinguisher and twelve respondents directly said that they have no idea how to use it. The important thing is that two of the respondents from Sena Kalyan Bhaban said that few months ago a fire service drill was occurred in their office but they werent shown how to use the fire extinguisher. Beside this different kind of picture was found in the ALICO Building where the all the interviewee were from Standard Chartered Bank and one of them said that in their office they are given regular training on fire extinguisher and they also see how to use it during the time of fire drill.

6.4) Existence of alarm bell and smoke detector:

More than half of the respondents ensured the existence of alarm bell in the building and only five said that they have no such facility in their building. In the Sonali Bank they have a warning bell which is manually operated. Beside the alarm bell both the Peoples Building and the ALICO building have smoke detector also. In the Rahman Chamber and Jiban Bima Bhaban no such facilities were found. In Jiban Bima Bhaban the respondents said that the facilities are available in their head office.

6.5)Fire exit in the buildings:

According to BNBC (Bangladesh National Building Code), a fire escape is must in non-residential multi storied building with fire resistant door and also with easy access and unhindered route4. On the basis of this questions were asked and ten respondents said that they have fire exit in the building and they also specify the position of the emergence exit door. On the other hand eight of the respondents said they have no fire exit in the building. Table-6 Number of fire exit in the buildings
4

The Daily Star, 21st April, 2009.p-16, High-rise buildings vulnerable to fire.

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Name of the building Peoples Building ALICO Building Sena Kalyan Bhaban Sonali Bank Jiban Bima Bhaban Rahman Chamber Source: Field work, 2009

Number of fire exit 02 02 01 -

In Peoples Building they have two fire exit in the left and right side of each floor and the exits are separated from the main office place by a corridor. In ALICO building both the fire exit are in the back side of the building and in the Sena Kalyan Bhaban the exit specified by the respondent in the right side of the building. The important finding is that in the Rahman Chamber though they have no emergence exit but they have a staircase in the back side of the building which they can easily use it as an emergence exit during fire like situation but most of the employees of the building dont know about the staircase and it is not used as regular basis. Same case was found in the Jiban Bima Bhaban. The building has an extra exit in the right side which is found all time locked.

6.5.1)Fire resistant door:

Among all the buildings selected for study only Peoples building and Sena Kalyan Bhaban have fire exit with fire resistant door. In Sonali Bank one respondent said that only the volt door of the bank is fire resistant beside this they have no fire resistant door in the building. In the other selected buildings of the study area only normal doors are used.

6.6) Existence of under water reservoir:

The respondents were also asked about the existence of under water reservoir in the building. Table-7 Existence of under water reservoir Yes No Total Number of respondents 10 08 18 15

Source: Field work, 2009. Ten of the respondents said that in their building they have under water reservoir and eight of the respondents said they have not. Basically in Peoples Building and Sena Kalyan Bhaban this facility is found and in the case of ALICO building though they have no hydrant box still they have under ground reserve tank in the building for extra water supply. One of the respondent said that they have reservoir and in case of emergence they can use the nearest pond of the building. But in the case of other building there is no alternative source to tackle the fire like situation. Beside this they get insufficient water supply in the building which can make them more vulnerable during fire like situation.

6.7)Personal fire fighters for the building:

Both Peoples Building and Sena Kalyan Bhaban have their fire experts and fire fighting team which is a very significant finding of the study. Beside this in ALICO building only the Standard Chartered Bank have their own fire fighters and they are given relevant training. But they dont know either the building has this facility or not. The other buildings of the study area have no such type of facility.

6.8) Number of lift and staircases:

The respondents were asked about the lift and staircases of the building. Table-8 Name of the building Peoples Building ALICO Building Rahman Chamber Sena Kalyan Bhaban Jiban Bima Bhaban Sonali Bank Source: Field work, 2009 Number of staircase 02 02 02 02 02 02 Number of lift 04 02 06 01 02

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In Rahman Chamber though they have two lift but one of the respondents said that the lifts are backdated and sometimes mechanical problems are created in the lifts. On the other hand, in Jiban Bima Bhaban one of the respondents said that they found their lift most of the time in out of order so they have to use stair on that time. In Sonali Bank 2lift is found but considering to the building and the number of staff the lifts are not enough. The building is eight storeys and during the fire situation absence of fire exit can make the life of the people more vulnerable. Both the Peoples Building and Sena Kalyan Bhaban have generator facilities to run their lift in case of emergency.

6.9) Condition of Gas and Electricity line:

The respondents were asked questions whether the gas and electricity lines are checked regularly or not in their building. One of the common finding of the study is that all of the buildings have no gas line.

Condition of the electricity line

12 10 Number of respondent 8 6 4 2 0 Regular Checking 3 1 No Checking Not sure 2 Problem Basis 12

Opinion of the respondent

Figure-3 Source: Field work. 2009 17

The figure shows that twelve of the respondent said that in their building they check the electricity line regularly, one of the respondent said that electricity lines are not regularly check in the building. Two of the respondent said they are not sure whether the building checks the line regularly or not. Electricity lines are checked if there any problem occurred in the line two of the respondent answered. Among the respondent three said that it is their office policy to check the line regularly and they have their own electrician for 24 hours. In this case study shows that both the government buildings do not check electricity lines regularly. They call local electrician if any problems occur. Both the ALICO Building and Peoples Building have their own electrician and they check the electricity line yearly. In the other buildings such practice is not found.

6.10) Precautionary Measurement:

The respondents were asked about the use of no smoking sign, sand box and the existence of smoking zone in the building. Table-9 Existence of smoking zone Yes No Total Source: Field work, 2009 All of the respondents said that there is no smoking zone in the building. In Peoples Building and ALICO Building smoking is totally prohibited in the office and smokers generally smoke in the stairs, toilet or go to outside. Six of the respondents said that they can smoke anywhere in the office. One said for smoking they have to go veranda. In Sonali Bank one of the respondent said that smoking is prohibited in the office but during the time of interview one of the staff of the office was smoking openly though there was a no smoking sign. 18 Number of respondent 00 18 18

6.10.1) Use of no smoking sign and sand box:

In the buildings only Sena Kalyan Bhaban and Peoples Building use the no smoking sign and sand box. In the ALICO building smoking is totally prohibited so they do not smoke in the office and also dont allow the clients or outsiders to smoke in the office arena. In Sonali Bank they use both no smoking sign and sand box. But these are not regularly maintained. One of the respondent said that sand boxes are basically use for spitting and sometimes treated as dustbin.

6.11) Role of fire service:

Fire service can play an important role in taking precautionary measurement and aware people about fire hazard. During the time of the study questions were asked on fire drill, respondents knowledge about the nearest fire station number, knowledge on existing law and any visit from fire service.

6.11.1) Occurrence of fire drill:

Among the respondent 44% said that yearly a fire drill occur in their building, 39% said there is no fire drill occurred in the building and 17% said recently a drill is occurred in the building.

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Fire drill in the buildings

No fire drill 39%

Regular fire drill 44%

Recently occur 17%

Figure-4 From the study it is found that only in ALICO Building and Peoples Building yearly fire drill is occurred. One respondent of Sena Kalyan Bhaban said that though fire drill is not occur regularly but after the incident of Bashundhara City authority have arranged a drill two months ago. Same type of drill was also occurred in the Peoples and ALICO building. On the other hand, no drill is occurred in the Jiban Bima Bhaban and Sonali Bank .

One of the respondent of Rahman Chamber said that couple of months ago a drill was occurred in the building which was arranged by the authority. But the other respondent had no idea on that because on that time they were out of the office.

6.11.2) Knowledge on nearest fire station number:

During emergency situation fire station number is very important thing. Table-10 Personally keep fire station number Yes No Total Source: Field work, 2009 Number of respondent 03 15 18

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Among the eighteen respondents three said that they know nearest fire station number and also keep the number with them. More than half of the respondents said they do not know the number. All the respondents who know the nearest fire station number worked in a higher position in the office. One of them said that though in his office they have no number of fire station but he personally keep the number for emergency.Eleven of the respondents said that the number is in the reception of the office and four others were not sure.

6.11.3) Knowledge on existing law:

According to BNBC (Bangladesh National Building Code) a regular fire drill in every three months is mandatory5. Respondents were asked question on this. Table-11 Knowledge on BNBC law Yes No Total Number of respondent 03 15 18

Among the respondents six said they know about the law through media such as television, newspaper etc. More than half of the respondents said they have no idea about the law. One of the respondents said that though he have no idea about the law but his office give him full training on fire drill after his appointment.

The Daily Star, 21st April, 2009.p-16, High-rise buildings vulnerable to fire.

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6.11.4) Visit from fire service:

Respondents were asked whether any inspection team come from fire service. The above figure shows that all of the respondents said that there is no regular visit from fire service in the building. But eight of them said that in last 2/3 months after the Bashundhara city fire incidence a fire fighting team came in the building for conducting fire drill. But the important thing is that during the drill the fire fighting team did not brief them about fire hazard. One of the respondents said that during the fire drill in his office only the high official took part in drills, they were just informed about the drill. Beside this when fire fighters created a false fire only few of the members of the building use the fire exit. The fire fighters showed the use of fire extinguisher only the higher official of the building.

Inspection of fire service

18 20 15 Number of respondent 10 5 0 Regular visit from fire service No visit 0

Figure-5 Source: Field work, 2009 Another important finding is that for conducting the drill the building authority invited the fire fighting team. Beside this fire service did not take any initiatives in the past. Among all the building employees of four building ensured about recent drill in the building. But among them only the Standard Chartered officials of ALICO building have the knowledge to use fire extinguisher. One of the respondent also said that because of regular drill in their office they have understanding between them what to do during fire like situation and they have also fire wardens in the building. The case of other building is that all the employees are not expert like that. 22

In Rahman Chamber one respondent said that couple of months ago a drill was occurred in the building but most of the employees were absent because of the official duty.

6.11.5) Respondents personal experience on fire hazard:

Respondents were asked question on their personal experience on fire hazard. Most of them said they have gained experience from television beside this they have no such experience in their personal life. One of the respondent said that he saw a fire incident in his area and fire service came and stop the fire and he personally helped them.

6.12) Respondents opinion on fire facilities in the building:

Respondents opinion was asked about the existing facilities in the building. One respondent said that though a fire drill is occurred in his building which is only benefited the fire fighters. But overall participation is needed during this type of drill. Most of the respondents think that they need to learn the use of fire extinguisher for emergency situation. Another respondent think for informing and awaring people on fire hazard Government can supply leaflet or fire service can arrange a program through which people can know better about the hazard. The same respondent gave another opinion, on his view proper instruction is needed for fire like situation. Both type of instruction is needed that means if fire occur in the upper part of the building what will have to do or if it occur in the lower part of the building then what to do. Building lift should be checked and maintained regularly was the opinion of another respondent.

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7) Conclusion:
The main intention of the research was to see the relation between urban development and fire risk in the buildings of Motijheel Commercial Area. Though the study was conducted with some limitations but still some important findings are come out from the research. The findings of the research indicate that fire fighting facilities have to increase in both Government and non-government buildings. Fire fighting equipments such as hydrant box, fire extinguishers are not available in every building and most of the respondents do not know the use of fire extinguisher. Facilities like alarm bell, smoke detector, fire resistant door, sufficient number of fire exits, personal fire fighters are only available in the big corporate buildings. Beside this for tackling fire situation under water reservoir or any extra source of water is not found in all the buildings and insufficient water supply still exists in the area. Considering to the height of the buildings enough number of lift and staircases are available in the buildings. But staircases and lifts are not properly maintained in the Government owned buildings. The important thing is that electricity lines are regularly checked in most of the buildings. Some has own electrician and others call the local one if any problems occurred. It is a matter of regret that though Dhaka city is now considering in a great risk of fire and urban spaces grows rapidly. Fire service is not taking any proper initiatives. In most of the study buildings no regular fire drill is occurred and there is hardly any visit from fire service for inspecting the condition of the fire facilities in the building. The recently occurred drills are arranged by the building authority. Even the respondents do not know the nearest fire station number and they also have no idea about the existing law on fire drill.

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So steps should be taken to solve these problems. People have to give primary knowledge on fire fighting equipments and also have to show them how to tackle the emergency situation. Regular fire drill should be conducted under the guidance of fire service and for this everyones participation has to ensure. Government has to take proper initiatives on this. They can ensure fire resistant door, emergency exit and separate water line in every building and make people aware about the hazard.

Fire Extinguisher

Modern warning bell

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Situation of the Commercial Buildings, Motijheel.

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