FE Report
Urban planners differed on Saturday with the recent World Bank (WB) proposal for developing a planned city on the Eastern fringe of Dhaka.
They said Rajuk has its own planning on how Dhaka will be developed in its mega plan, especially in the Detailed Area Plan (DAP).
Discarding the idea of any separate plan for Dhaka, they suggested giving importance to decentralisation, which will ultimately reduce pressure on Dhaka.
The observations were made at a national seminar on 'Urban Planning and Civic Services: Planning Related Services and the Role of Planners,' at Bangladesh Institute of Professionals auditorium in the city.
BIP president AKM Abul Kalam chaired the seminar.
In a recent report, the WB said that if the Eastern part of Dhaka could be developed in a planned manner, it will generate economic activities worth Tk 53 billion by 2035.
There will be accommodation opportunity for 5.0 million people in that area and some 1.8 million jobs will be created, said the WB.
The WB further said the per capita income of Dhaka citizens will increase to US$ 9,200 from the present $ 8,000.
The WB suggested implementing three recommendations for this.
A dam has to be constructed on the embankment on the bank of river Balu to save Dhaka from flood and change the flow of the river.
Secondly, effective coordination is required to increase ever increasing general and public transport. Thirdly, a planned big commercial city has to be developed in the eastern part of Dhaka.
In his remarks, DAP project director and urban planner of Rajuk Ashraful Islam said that urban planners must take the challenge for planned urbanisation.
There must be plan and it has to be implemented timely, he added.
Responding to a question, he said the global lender on many occasions has discussed with Rajuk on the development of the eastern part.
"We have clearly told them that they can do anything in light of the present master plan," he said.
BIP general-secretary Adil Mohammad Khan said the plan of the WB will bring no positive result for Dhaka crippled with immense problems already.
Besides, the issue of decentralisation is mentioned in every national planning documents like the 7th five-year plan.
"There are many master plans for Dhaka city and the surrounding areas. If the regional centres are developed properly, the pressure on Dhaka will automatically decrease," he said.
No separate plan is needed for Dhaka anymore as it is already burdened with too many development activities, he added.
"The proposal of the WB in the context of Dhaka is unacceptable as they even did not discuss with any civil society or expert group on its plan," he said.
Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) urban planner AKM Rezaul Karim said that there are 1,400 urban planners in the country.
But the authorities have been planning without consulting with them, he said. "The WB proposal is unacceptable as the experts involved with the WB plan are all economists," he said.
President of the Municipal Town Planners Association of Bangladesh Atiqul Khaled said there are 329 pourosava or municipalities in the country. But only 27 municipalities have urban planners.
The authorities are not following the mandatory rule of appointing planners in 176 first class municipalities, he said.
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