The city's long wait for Detailed Area Plan
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Munima Sultana
It took the RAJUK three years, beginning 1992, to complete the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Planning (DMDP) for 1995-2015, containing two components, the Structural Plan and Urban Area Plan.
The hope, it created for a well-planned Dhaka city in 1995, did not last long.
It look another seven years to undertake the exercise for a Detailed Area Plan (DAP), the last but most important component for the DMDP implementation.
More than a decade has been wasted in preparing DAP. At final stage, it has many anomalies and inconsistencies with the Structural Plan and Urban Area Plan of the DMDP.
Organisations monitoring RAJUK said that the DAP failed to reflect the socio-economic and cultural aspirations of the city.
The DAP, they said, failed to lay out the planning principles for land use that could ease the pressure in the city. It also, they say, does not ensure wet land protection, water flow management, allocate space for schools, healthcare facilities, community facilities and open spaces under a standard guideline.
These lapses, they said, do not make the DAP acceptable. An uncertainty, therefore, looms in the implementation of the DMDP itself.
They said, the Rajuk report, now seeking public opinion, is not at all reader friendly. No one knows about it, they alleged.
The DAP was opened to public opinion from October 4 to December 4. RAJUK stated in its website that it would finalise the DAP in this December, 2008.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), Institute of Architects of Bangladesh (IAB), Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) and Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) rejected the DAP.
In the Urban Area Plan, RAJUK provides an interim mid-term strategy for 10 years dividing the capital city into 19 sub-divisions and 26 SPZ.
According to the RAJUK website, the DAP area covers 1528 sq. km or 590 sq. miles, from Gazipur Pourashava in the North, Dhaleshawri River to the south, Bangshi and Dhaleshawri rivers to the west and Shitalakkhya and Meghna rivers to the east. DDC, EPC, GBL, Sheltech (Pvt) Ltd and BETS were assigned to prepare the DAP, the website added.
The observers said, the DAP deviated from the principle of conserving high value agricultural land for intensive food production in the DMDP area.
Syed Rezwana Hasan of BELA alleged that the way these lands planned in the DAP, it could encourage grabbing of these lands for housing, at the cost of food security.
It showed only 0.13 per cent of the city land as open space when the city has severe lacking of open and green spaces.
BAPA joint secretary Iqbal Habib, said the DAP deviated from the land use principles that could cost flood retention pond areas, open spaces, incomplete roads and affect optimum use of residential land as clearly laid down in the DMDP.
Dr Ishrat Islam of BIP, said the digitised DAP map errs 5 to 15 metres in the scale resulting in inaccurate demarcation of the location features.
Planner Ishrat said the DAP fails to meet the collective aspirations and interests of the city population, as it failed to take the opinions of the professional groups.
Professor Nurul Islam Nazem of CUS said instead of trying to restore the drainage networks, the DAP proposes to shift retention pond areas to the embankment site which, which could be alarming for the city.
Sarwar Jahan, President of BIP, said after wasting 13 years Rajuk came up with a tentative DAP, that contradicts the existing laws like Imarat Bidhimala 2008, Wetland Protection Ordinance 2000. It would allow encroachment bypassing these laws.
"In the absence of a DAP, so many things happened beyond what DMDP stipulates for building structures. Many of the wrongs would not happen if DAP was prepared properly and in due time," Iqbal pointed out echoing other planners. They called for immediate initiative for setting up of a technical committee to rectify the wrongs.
A technical committee comprising urban planning professional bodies like Nagor Unnayan Committee can properly guide for the needed corrections, the observers strongly demanded.
It took the RAJUK three years, beginning 1992, to complete the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Planning (DMDP) for 1995-2015, containing two components, the Structural Plan and Urban Area Plan.
The hope, it created for a well-planned Dhaka city in 1995, did not last long.
It look another seven years to undertake the exercise for a Detailed Area Plan (DAP), the last but most important component for the DMDP implementation.
More than a decade has been wasted in preparing DAP. At final stage, it has many anomalies and inconsistencies with the Structural Plan and Urban Area Plan of the DMDP.
Organisations monitoring RAJUK said that the DAP failed to reflect the socio-economic and cultural aspirations of the city.
The DAP, they said, failed to lay out the planning principles for land use that could ease the pressure in the city. It also, they say, does not ensure wet land protection, water flow management, allocate space for schools, healthcare facilities, community facilities and open spaces under a standard guideline.
These lapses, they said, do not make the DAP acceptable. An uncertainty, therefore, looms in the implementation of the DMDP itself.
They said, the Rajuk report, now seeking public opinion, is not at all reader friendly. No one knows about it, they alleged.
The DAP was opened to public opinion from October 4 to December 4. RAJUK stated in its website that it would finalise the DAP in this December, 2008.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), Institute of Architects of Bangladesh (IAB), Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) and Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) rejected the DAP.
In the Urban Area Plan, RAJUK provides an interim mid-term strategy for 10 years dividing the capital city into 19 sub-divisions and 26 SPZ.
According to the RAJUK website, the DAP area covers 1528 sq. km or 590 sq. miles, from Gazipur Pourashava in the North, Dhaleshawri River to the south, Bangshi and Dhaleshawri rivers to the west and Shitalakkhya and Meghna rivers to the east. DDC, EPC, GBL, Sheltech (Pvt) Ltd and BETS were assigned to prepare the DAP, the website added.
The observers said, the DAP deviated from the principle of conserving high value agricultural land for intensive food production in the DMDP area.
Syed Rezwana Hasan of BELA alleged that the way these lands planned in the DAP, it could encourage grabbing of these lands for housing, at the cost of food security.
It showed only 0.13 per cent of the city land as open space when the city has severe lacking of open and green spaces.
BAPA joint secretary Iqbal Habib, said the DAP deviated from the land use principles that could cost flood retention pond areas, open spaces, incomplete roads and affect optimum use of residential land as clearly laid down in the DMDP.
Dr Ishrat Islam of BIP, said the digitised DAP map errs 5 to 15 metres in the scale resulting in inaccurate demarcation of the location features.
Planner Ishrat said the DAP fails to meet the collective aspirations and interests of the city population, as it failed to take the opinions of the professional groups.
Professor Nurul Islam Nazem of CUS said instead of trying to restore the drainage networks, the DAP proposes to shift retention pond areas to the embankment site which, which could be alarming for the city.
Sarwar Jahan, President of BIP, said after wasting 13 years Rajuk came up with a tentative DAP, that contradicts the existing laws like Imarat Bidhimala 2008, Wetland Protection Ordinance 2000. It would allow encroachment bypassing these laws.
"In the absence of a DAP, so many things happened beyond what DMDP stipulates for building structures. Many of the wrongs would not happen if DAP was prepared properly and in due time," Iqbal pointed out echoing other planners. They called for immediate initiative for setting up of a technical committee to rectify the wrongs.
A technical committee comprising urban planning professional bodies like Nagor Unnayan Committee can properly guide for the needed corrections, the observers strongly demanded.