Many flock to Savar as city runs dry of saleable land

Savar has of late emerged as the most- sought-after area in Dhaka district. The scarcity of disposable lands in and around the capital city has prompted realtors and others to set their sights on the suitable suburb as their desired property destination.
People linked with the sale of property and development activities attribute the property boom in Savar to availability of saleable land, relatively lower land prices, utilities and good connectivity with the capital.
The sub-city, located at a distance of about 24 kilometres (15 miles) to the northwest of Dhaka, has already been awarded status of industrial zone in recent years because of growing investments, especially from the apparel manufacturers.
Now it has overtaken once-dominating areas like Uttara, Ashulia, Mirpur, Gulshan, Mohammadpur and Old Dhaka in terms of land property sale.
According to the statistics of Dhaka district land office, Savar stands at the top on the sale chart of land property in Dhaka district with the registration of 17,470 deeds during the first eight months of the current calendar year.
A total of 14564 deeds were recorded in Ashulia followed by Mirpur (11,119), Uttara (11067), Gulshan (8066), Sadar covering the largest portion of Old Dhaka (7356), Mohammadpur (6554) and Sutrapur covering the areas like Motijheel, Arambagh and Fakirerpool (5047) during the same period, the data showed.
Talking about the developments around, Sub-registrar of Savar land office Eskander Ali said the life at the land registry office has become difficult because of the pressure of land-sale proceedings.
"We, on an average, complete registration of around 60 deeds a day. So, it reflects the high demand for land in Savar," he said, adding that growing urbanization and industrial activities allured property-market investors here.
Former Upazila Chairman Firoz Kabir said Savar is a unique place for both business and residential usage as it is one of the closest suburbs of the capital, having all required facilities like smooth road connectivity, utilities and other basic services.
"You can find everything here, which is very much essential for an ideal town like Savar," he said.
He mentioned that a good number of people migrated to the area a year ago for business or job purposes and many of them decided to stay here considering its proximity to Uttara or Mirpur. And it made a good contribution to the rising land sale.
Ratan Kumar Sarker, who works in a local pharmaceutical company in Savar, said advantage of being placed in a better location and lower land price compared to that of Uttara, Mirpur, Gulshan, Mohammadpur and Old Dhaka have pushed up the demand for land in Savar area.
"The area does have another advantage: it links country's northern and southern parts with the capital," he added.
Savar has seen massive development activities over the last 15 years with several hundred apparel manufacturing and other forms of industrial units, a number of residential buildings, bank branches, educational institutions, healthcare centres and shopping malls coming up.               
Managing Director of Envoy Group, a leading apparel maker, Abdus Salam Murshedy said businessmen always want to set up their units inside the capital in a country like Bangladesh. But in here traffic congestion costs them high.
"But government's ongoing plan to lessen population pressure on the small capital prompted them to look for alternatives--and Savar is one of the best options," he added.
Managing Director of Sheltech, one of the leading real-estate companies in the country, Toufic M Seraj said unavailability of saleable land in the capital and its much higher value, and rapid industrialization and urbanisation activities forced people onto the outskirts.
Managing Director of Doel Group, an apparel group located in Bank Town area of Savar, Ashok Kejriwal said the area has key facilities for businesses like power and gas connections and sound law-and-order situation.
"I know many businessmen who are in search of land in Savar and Ashulia," he added.
Savar has a total area of 280.13 square kilometres (108.16 sq mi). It is bounded by Kaliakoir and Gazipur Sadar upazilas on the north, Keraniganj upazila on the south, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Pallabi and Uttara thanas of Dhaka city on the east, and Dhamrai and Singair upazilas on the west.

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