The majority of allottees are not willing to live in the Rajuk’s Uttara apartment area without any gas supply in the flats and due to absence of basic facilities, like - kitchen market, school, pharmacy and departmental stores, near it.
A total of 5,625 flats of the project have been handed over so far. But only about 100 families have started living in its A-block, where there are 79 buildings having flats of 1,654 sq-ft each.
The Rajuk (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha) officials said the possible time for the flat owners to live in the project with full amenities cannot be forecasted now, as the government agency cannot make it liveable alone.
The responsibilities of constructing schools and markets have been given to some companies. It may take another one year.
The Rajuk has been constructing these 16-storeyed buildings under the project, approved in April 2000. A development project proposal (DPP) to construct around 22,000 apartments for middle and lower-middle income group of people at Uttara Sector-18 (3rd phase) was recommended at an inter-ministerial meeting at the Ministry of Housing and Public Works in February 2010.
Foundation stone of the project was laid on 21st April 2010, and its DPP was approved on 10th October 2011.
It is the largest-ever planned apartment project in the country, having 214.44 acres of land. Its duration was from November 2011 to June 2016.
Seeking anonymity, a senior official of the Rajuk told the FE that as per the plan, some 7,919 flats were likely to be allotted at first. But construction work of about 10 buildings in the project has been cancelled.
So, now the total number of apartments to be allotted is 6,636. Out of these, 5,625 flats have been handed over to the allottees, while 1,011 are still vacant.
The Public Works Department (PWD) was assigned to construct 39 buildings, of which four buildings have been cancelled.
On the other hand, the Rajuk planned to construct 40 buildings, of which four buildings have been cancelled.
The Rajuk has already published advertisement in newspapers for allotment of the remaining 1,011 flats, for which aspirant buyers can apply until this September.
The organisation has refunded the deposit and instalment money to 2,168 buyers, and allotment of 126 flats has been cancelled.
The Rajuk official said cent per cent supply of water and electricity as well as installation of lift in the buildings is complete.
But the company, responsible for supply liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to various clusters of the project, is not supplying the fuel due to lack of adequate number of residents.
As a result, the present residents are using gas cylinders, as the company will not start supplying LPG unless the number of consumers is 50 per cent of the total community.
Regarding security measures, he said the Rajuk has deployed Ansar members there, while policemen are also looking after the area.
But the apartment residents will deploy their own security personnel, once majority of them start living in the buildings.
Regarding transport arrangement, the official said they have requested the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) to operate its buses from Uttara to west side of the project. But he cannot tell how many buses will ply the route.
Akter Mahmud, Vice President of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), said people will not be interested to live in these apartments unless essential services, like - educational institutions, healthcare facilities and markets, are available there.
Expressing surprise, he said a community should have been already developed there with more than 100 families living in the project.
"I hope the community will be developed in the area within next one to two years. I think educational institutions, healthcare facilities and markets are the basic necessities to attract people."
Regarding the BRTC bus service, he said the entity provides one to two trips, which is not sufficient. On the other hand, its business is also not viable there due to lack of enough commuters.
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