Home ›› 21 Nov 2021 ›› News
Policymakers, local government representatives, land developers and urban planners at a seminar in the capital on Saturday called on the government to endorse the Detailed Area Plan (2016-2035) after incorporating necessary reformations immediately.
The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) organised the national seminar where professionals, government agencies concerned, businessmen and other stakeholders participated.
Private Industry and Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister Salman Fazlur Rahman said that five years have passed but the DAP could not be finalised and it triggers problems including affecting foreign investment.
“Do not delay more, finalise the DAP by December,” he said.
He said that the proposed DAP incorporated many modern concepts of urban development but the implementation of a plan remains always more challenging than planning.
He asked the RAJUK to digitalise all of its official procedures as many people accuse the agency of harassing people and indulging in corruption.
The last DAP was prepared for 1995-2015. LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Md Tazul Islam, also the convener of DAP finalisation committee, said that he was working hard to finalise DAP within the shortest possible time.
While presiding over the event, Tazul said that the progress of DAP was very low when he was assigned for it but now plan paper was almost at the final stage.
Narayanganj City Corporation mayor Selina Hayat Ivy said that the government should decide who will implement the plan.
“Rajuk is a regulatory authority and it should not implement the plan. It should be city corporations,” she said.
She was also of the opinion that the city corporations should approve building plans, not the Rajuk.
The Centre for Urban Studies chairman Professor Nazrul Islam said that the government should approve the structural plan before endorsing the DAP and the city corporations should be assigned for the implementation of DAP.
Dhaka WASA managing director Taqsem A Khan said that the issue of waterlogging was perfectly addressed in the proposed DAP as previous DAPs had made the capital a water bucket by erecting embankments surrounding it.
He found it realistic that the proposed DAP features elevated bypass roads.
He also said that mixed development is good for any city but it is risky too because it might turn the city into a jungle for lack of proper monitoring.
However, Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) president Mubasshar Hussain among others complained that their recommendations to the DAP preparing committee were not incorporated properly.
Architect Iqbal Habib said that the High Court in many cases issued many directives about wetland and other issues which were not addressed in the proposed DAP.
Bangladesh Land Developers Association President Ahmed Akbar Sobhan said that the government should create facilities for the private land developers as they have a huge contribution to the development of the country.
Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) President Alamgir Shamsul Alamin (Kajal) said that the Rajuk should add the issue of controlling population density in the proposed DAP.
If Rajuk goes ahead with the density zoning plan, at least 50 lakh people will be pushed back home from Dhaka, he said.
He suggested the government to ensure facilities outside the capital to check migration to the capital.
Other speakers said that for many reasons including job opportunity, education and health care support, people continued to migrate to Dhaka which continued intensifying civic problems in the megacity.
