DEMAND for the suspension of the detailed area plan of Dhaka is illogical. Various organisations, including the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh and the Institute of Architects Bangladesh, are reported to have pressured Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha to review the plan after its suspension. The demand has been countered, too, by some other organisations. The Bangladesh Institute of Planners on September 4 said that vested interests had demanded the suspension of the detailed area plan to protect their interests. The suspension will turn the capital unliveable further and leave it unplanned. The Institute of Planners says that vested quarters are aggrieved mostly by a provision that has reduced building height to control population density and the groups in the past compelled the authorities to revise planning documents to safeguard their interests, leading Dhaka to an unsustainable and unplanned state. The organisation has also asked the government to publish a white paper after a proper investigation of the changes made. City planners have for long criticised the authorities for not following the plan, which, at least on paper, promises a better Dhaka with sustainable urbanisation.
A failure to implement DAP 2010, followed by a lax enforcement of the 2022鈥�2035 plan, is said to have pushed Dhaka into a chaotic state. Dhaka is already one of the worst unliveable cities and the authorities, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha and the two city authorities, have had little success in improving the situation. Dhaka has been ranked one of the worst liveable cities in the Global Liveability Index and the Safe Cities Index for years. Although the authorities came up with a number of plans, rules and regulations to save Dhaka, most of them could not be implemented because of incoordination among agencies and corruption. Various public agencies have carried out development work without any regard for the plan while illegal construction and encroachment on public spaces went apace. As a result, Dhaka has witnessed a messy growth where city dwellers are deprived of healthy living. All the rivers and canals in and around Dhaka are either dead or faced with a slow death while large parts of the flood-flow zones have been encroached on. More than 22,500 acres of wetland, including water bodies, flood-flow zones, low-lying areas and canals in and around the capital, have been filled since Dhaka鈥檚 detailed area plan came into effect in 2010, according to a report by the Bangladesh Institute of Planners.
The authorities should, therefore, find answers to why the earlier and current plans and programmes regarding sustainable urbanisation of Dhaka did not work and address the obstacles. The authorities should also assess the detailed area plan, make changes if needed, and ensure that the plan is properly followed by all. The government must ensure coordination among agencies for proper implementation of the plan.
