Construction of bldgs on in Ctg violating codes
Our Correspondent | Saturday, 23 August 2008
CHITTAGONG, Aug 22: Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) has failed to control violations in the specific codes governing building construction in the port city. Constructions are going on defying rules and regulations. Concerned sources say that corruption and poor vigilance are the main reasons behind it.
They say that CDA is not taking any measure against those who care little in abiding by the rules covering construction. They feel that this apathetic behaviour by the CDA cannot restore discipline in the field of construction. On the one hand this conduct of the CDA is increasing the number of the violators of the laws of the land and on the other, the entire city is gradually becoming over crowded. This unhealthy trend ultimately contributes to water logging and traffic congestion which have now emerged as permanent problems.
If these activities continue it would become rather difficult to expand the roads of the city in future. Investigations revealed that for obtaining CDA approval the engineers draft one design and another for the actual construction. There is a lot of dissimilarity between the two. For instance, parking facility is mandatory in the construction of markets and other highrise buildings but this is not followed in practice. In fact, space allotted for parking are used as showrooms and other commercial organisations. This disrupts the normal movement of vehicles and creates traffic congestion frequently in front of those buildings. Open space surrounding the building is imperative, which is not complied with.
When concerned engineers of CDA were asked about the indiscriminate construction of buildings defying specific codes, they said that limitation of their authority was the reason for this.
According to architects and town planners, strict compliance of the code of construction is necessary for building the city as a safe abode for living.
They say that CDA is not taking any measure against those who care little in abiding by the rules covering construction. They feel that this apathetic behaviour by the CDA cannot restore discipline in the field of construction. On the one hand this conduct of the CDA is increasing the number of the violators of the laws of the land and on the other, the entire city is gradually becoming over crowded. This unhealthy trend ultimately contributes to water logging and traffic congestion which have now emerged as permanent problems.
If these activities continue it would become rather difficult to expand the roads of the city in future. Investigations revealed that for obtaining CDA approval the engineers draft one design and another for the actual construction. There is a lot of dissimilarity between the two. For instance, parking facility is mandatory in the construction of markets and other highrise buildings but this is not followed in practice. In fact, space allotted for parking are used as showrooms and other commercial organisations. This disrupts the normal movement of vehicles and creates traffic congestion frequently in front of those buildings. Open space surrounding the building is imperative, which is not complied with.
When concerned engineers of CDA were asked about the indiscriminate construction of buildings defying specific codes, they said that limitation of their authority was the reason for this.
According to architects and town planners, strict compliance of the code of construction is necessary for building the city as a safe abode for living.