A mobile court of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has fined 13 shopkeepers for setting up shops on the stairs of the New Supermarket building in Dhaka's New Market without a design.
The court removed the floating shops on the stairs by fining Tk5,000 for each shopkeeper, totalling Tk65,000.
The operation was conducted in the New Market area on Wednesday by DSCC's Executive Magistrate, Md Jahangir Alam.
He said the shops on the stairs were removed and fined according to Section 18 of the Fire Prevention and Extinguishing Act, 2003.
Regarding the operation, Jahangir Alam said: “The stairs in this market serve as emergency exits for evacuation in case of fire. However, upon inspection, it was found that all the stairs were occupied by shops, which could significantly hamper the fire service's access or people's evacuation in any fire incident. Therefore, the operation was conducted to remove and fine 13 shops.”
Following the Bailey Road fire, which claimed 46 lives, law enforcement agencies are monitoring restaurants in Dhaka to ensure proper fire safety and to determine whether there is an emergency exit route in case of an accident.
