Lifts become death traps

Dhaka city is urbanising at a rapid rate. Lifts have now become an essential prerequisite for high rise buildings for both commercial purposes and residences. Thousands of lifts are being commissioned without proper supervision due to a dearth of qualified technical personnel. On top of that the mandatory safety checks and regular maintenance needed to keep these lifts operating properly are being sidelined due to building owners' lack of awareness and minimising costs. The dangers of cost cutting and lack of maintenance were perhaps best illustrated when the cable pulling a lift in an Uttara shopping mall snapped, hurtling people to their deaths some months ago.

It is high time a separate body was formed under the aegis of Rajdhani Unnayan Kattripakkha (Rajuk) whose primary job would be to oversee mechanical, electrical and structural safety of buildings. This body would have inspectors that would carry out regular audits on buildings to ensure that buildings are built adhering to the national building code and equipment such as lifts are being maintained as per prescribed criteria. 

It is imperative that both building owners and users of lifts in buildings learn about how important it is to maintain these vertical movers of people. Overcrowding seems to be a regular affair in lifts where we forgo our personal safety to use elevators. At the end of the day, it is a joint responsibility of building owners and authorities to see to it that proper installation and maintenance of lifts is done in the interests of public safety.