Ministry of Housing and Public Works has finalised a policy allowing commercial establishments on both sides of 100 feet road in Dhaka, pushing the city dwellers towards great disaster.

Before finalising the plan, the ministry neither conducted any feasibility test nor consulted experts, sources claimed.

Urban planners opined that indiscriminate construction of commercial establishments on residential plots will result in multiplicity of vehicles and traffic jam.

Besides, commercial permission will see abundance of roadside vendors of greens, fishes and other essential items deteriorating situation further.

Experts spoke on the need for immediate policy of the government to reduce influx of people into capital Dhaka. Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Md Tajul Islam has recently expressed similar view. Addressing a programme in the first week of June, he said it is time to fix as to how many people should live in Dhaka.

Double standard

City planners said many people will try to convert residential plots into commercial ones paying certain amount of fees following the permission.

Construction of business establishment will create employment but see migration of people from other parts of the country, they added.

Last year, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) published Detailed Area Plan (DAP) curbing height of building to reduce density of population. Allowing commercialisation of residential plots is inconsistent with DAP.

Number of Dhaka city dwellers is already four times the permitted level due to unplanned urbanisation while civic amenity is just one third. Meanwhile, public transport is six times the capacity of the roads.

Dhaka has ranked 7th least liveable city across the globe for the second consecutive year in the ‘Global Liveability Index 2023’.

If commercial establishments are permitted on the residential plots, situation of the capital will deteriorate further, the experts said.

With 22 terms and conditions, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works on May 3 approved the policy allowing commercial activities in the first and second phase in residential plots of Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Uttara under RAJUK.

According to the policy, conditional permission will be given for construction of commercial establishments on residential plots on both sides of 100 feet roads.

The Ministry of Housing and Public Works has taken the lead in formulating this policy while RAJUK extended support. However, stakeholders are expressing surprise at the policy being finalised without any survey.

It is said that commercial activities in Gulshan Avenue in Gulshan Residential Area, Kamal Ataturk Avenue in Banani, Rabindra Sarani, Sonargaon Township, Gausul Azam Avenue, Garib-e-Newaz Avenue, Shah Makhdum Avenue, Shahjalal Avenue, Isha Khan Avenue and Alaol Avenue  will fall under the purview of policy.

This provision will also be applicable to other areas under RAJUK  with 100 feet roads. Under this facility, private housing projects can also expand commercial activities.

Opinion of Experts

In this regard, Professor Adil Mohammed Khan, executive director of the Institute for Planning and Development (IPD), said  decentralisation of Dhaka has become urgent in the current situation.

“We have been making this demand for a long time. Under this situation, inviting more commercial establishments in Dhaka is unacceptable. RAJUK is not moving in the right direction. If this decision is implemented, the residential environment of these areas will be destroyed. Traffic congestion, crowd and public suffering will be intensified.”

Architect Iqbal Habib, joint general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA), said “This policy is contradictory to DAP (revised) which imposed various restrictions to reduce population density.”

It is unfortunate to see policy allowing indiscriminate commercial establishments in residential areas, he said.

“I cannot even imagine how such a contradictory decision was taken,” he added.

Urban planner Shaikh Muhammad Mehedi Ahsan, general secretary of Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), said it was necessary to conduct a detailed survey in those areas and allow specific commercial establishments based on outcome.

He said ‘If commercial establishments are allowed beside designated roads in residential areas, the pressure on Dhaka will increase further. The livability of those areas will also decrease.”

Ashraful Islam, RAJUK city planner and director of DAP, said “It would have been better if such a decision was taken after a detailed study. However, RAJUK has been asked to conduct a detailed survey under the approved guidelines of the ministry concerned. Our planning department has already started that work.”

RAJUK Chairman Md Anisur Rahman said that commercial activities were already approved in different areas but plot owners beside 60 and 80 feet roads applied for the opportunity.

The new policy is aimed at ending any indiscipline in submitting applications and granting permission, he said.

However, fee for commercial conversation of residential plots has been doubled to discourage  applications, he added.

Kazi Wasi Uddin, secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, said  there are allegations of irregularities and corruption in permitting change in class of plots requiring a new policy to regulate it.

RAJUK has been directed to change the class of residential plots after evaluating the overall situation and carry out detailed survey, if necessary, he stated.