Dhakaeverything is unplanned

Munima SultanabrThere is a plan to beautify the city of Dhaka with attractive features like lakes, greenery and high end buildings. Despite the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) to beautify the city, it has been losing its attractive features. This is happening for the failure to implement the DMDP in time. brAs a result, the city's traffic jam is on the rise and residential areas have lost their character. Most of the residential areas have become commercial areas as well. Residential areas like Mohakhali, Baridhara, Banani DOHS, Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Mohammedpur are no different.brOne can hardly find a lane in the city where there is no office, said urban planners.brThey said that the Master Plan of the city of 1959 had provisions for exclusive commercial zones of Motijheel and Dilkhusa and the Tejgaon industrial area. brThey said though the plan was to be completed by the late 70s, no new Master Plan could be formulated until 1995. In absence of a Master Plan the commercial zones expanded in all sides due to increased demand for commercial space. Karwan Bazar also has become a commercial zone hosting important offices and bank branches. Recently, Agargaon is turning into another commercial zone.brSome of the residential areas are hosting private sector educational institutions and the offices of telecommunication as well as multinational companies. brKindergarten schools, colleges and universities proliferate Dhanmondi Residential Area. Traffic system of Dhanmandi, though a planned area, collapsed due to the presence of too many educational institutions, medical clinics and hospitals.brDr Moniruzzaman of the Urban Planning Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) said the commercial buildings in the city have been allowed to construct close to residential areas when it has wide road. brBut there is no plan to expand the commercial areas to meet the growing demand of economy, he said. brThe DMDP also does not offer a solution. He said it was supposed to be addressed in the third phase of DMDP for designing a Detailed Area Plan (DAP), which time ended in 2005 without it.brThe first Master Plan of Dhaka city covered roughly 830 sq. km (320 sq. miles) for a population of little over one million assuming an average annual population growth rate of1.75 per cent. The city was planned to expand towards the north, covering Mirpur and Tongi. It was a broad planning. The urban areas were zoned according to various activities. Although, the plan was prepared for a 20-year perspective (1959-79) but it survived almost double the time until a new plan was adopted in 1995. Already 13 years have gone without adopting the third phase of detailed area plan (DAP) of DMDP, prepared in 1995.brAccording to the RAJUK website, the DAP would provide more detailed planning proposals for specific issues like structure plan and the urban area plan. The Metro Dhaka Structure Plan area is subdivided into 26 StrategicSpatial Planning Zones (SPZ). The DAP would include SPZ area. Until the DAP is prepared, land use management would follow Structure Plan and the Urban Area Plan. brRAJUK's DMDP Project Cell could, so far, complete only one DAP for Dhaka-Narayangonj-Demra (DND) triangle. The 14,500 acre (22.66 sq. miles) DND triangle offers housing and planned development facilities for about three million people.brFor the DAP RAJUK identified six SPZ areas of Mirpur North to Uttara (location no. I), Kamrangir Char (location no. II), Keranigonj (location no. III), Begunbari Khal and the areas influenced by it (Location No. Iv), Demra - AirportTongi By-Pass and its surroundings (Location No.V), Dhaka-Narayangonj-Demra (Dnd) north areas (Location No. Vi).brCommercial structures are mostly owned by the private sector and built by the big developers. Shopping cum residential complex is a popular idea. But the Dhaka Structural Plan of DMDP does not mention commercial area development.brTanveerul Haque Probal, President of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB), said some big construction firms build commercial buildings for private owners.brHe, however, admitted that Rehab did not pay attention to this areas due to high demand for residential accommodation. But urban planners complain that in absence of proper implementation of DAP and related data, the entire city has become a mixture of commercial as well as residential areas, which cannot be desirable for a healthy city.