Unchecked house rent

House rent in the capital is on the continuous rise as it is beyond any control of the authorities and the law of the land. Although there is a law relating to house rent, it is not being enforced strictly. As a result the house owners are raising the house rent according to their sweet will. According to a report published in a daily newspaper, most of the city dwellers live in rented houses, but it is disappointing that the government has no effective plan to check the excessive increase in the house rent. According to Dhaka City Corporation, there are 3,580 holdings in the capital which are owned by only 17 per cent of city dwellers while the rest are tenants. Reporting on the unbridled rise in house rent, a national daily said recently that house rent in the capital city has increased three times over the last 15 years. The law on house rent is thereon paper only and it is not being executed. Many of the house lords behave badly when tenants request them to ease the rent. Some exemplary punishment should be imposed against that type of landlords. In almost all cities of the world house rent is regulated by law and the authorities. But in Dhaka and Chittagong house owners are lords and they hardly care about the laws relating to house rent. There should be an end to this unwanted situation. The government should enforce the House Rent Control Act 1991 to give some respite to the tenants. Mohammed Jashim Uddin Dhaka E-mail : juctg2008@gmail.com