Govt plans to slice off 110 buildings risky to air safety

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The government plans to demolish parts of 110 buildings in the capital that pose risks to air safety, a senior government official said Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com.
Four years ago, city developers Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha (Rajuk) and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) identified 111 buildings as risky to safe air traffic including the controversial Rangs Bhaban.
ASM Rashidul Hye, acting secretary to the housing and public works ministry, told the news agency that they would have a meeting with Rajuk and the CAAB to discuss the issue.
The meeting would review the list of risky buildings and make a final decision about which buildings will be partly demolished.
A senior official with the CAAB said the 150-foot-high buildings within a 10-mile radius from the runway of an airport are risky, but there are buildings over 250-foot high within the radius.
Several highrises are there on Kemal Ataturk Avenue, within three kilometres of Zia International Airport, which may cause fatal accident any time.
Senior officials at Rajuk and CAAB preferring anonymity said Rajuk could not demolish the buildings as their owners managed the policymakers of the BNP-led government.
Some resorted to legal battle but the then government was not serious about the cases for obvious reasons.
A Rajuk official said authorities had fixed a height limit for the buildings from 40-120 feet and later raising the ceiling to 150 feet. They asked the owners to slice off the unauthorised, but nobody responded to Rajuk's call.
In August 2004, Rajuk and CAAB jointly set the owners a deadline and Rajuk launched a drive after the deadline to knock down the illegal parts of some buildings in Uttara but the drive was later suspended.
A CAAB official said domestic and overseas airliners kept piling pressure on CAAB to keep the runway safe and CAAB asked Rajuk to take necessary steps, but to no avail.
The most risky buildings are 19-storey Awal Centre, 18-storey Iqbal Centre and 19-storey Priyangan Centre on Kemal Ataturk Avenue, 20-storey Silver Tower, 24-storey Navana Tower in Gulshan, 20-storey Brac Centre, 20-storey Aarong House and 19-storey Red Crescent Tower in Mohakhali, 20-storey Eastern Tower in Iskaton, 19-storey Sonar Tari Tower on Sonargaon Road, 22-storey Twin Tower in Chamelibagh, 20-storey Karnaphuli Garden City in Kakrail, 20-storey BSRS Bhaban, 19-storey TK Bhaban, 20-storey Borak Tower and 16-storey Progoti- Rhone-Poulenc Centre in Karwan Bazar, 19-storey Morning Tower in Panthapath, 12-storey Malek Tower in Tejturi Bazar, 14-storey Concord Tower in Farmgate, 12-storey Concord Tower in Tejturi Bazar, 10-storey Olimpia Tower and nine-storey Amin Tower in Manipuripara.