After years of wait, the 20-year Detailed Area Plan (DAP) got final approval on Thursday. It aims to make Dhaka a better city to live in by keeping its population density proportionate to civic amenities and developing planned infrastructures to accommodate 60 lakh more people by 2035. The plan (2016-2035), which has already lost five years, comes on the heels of the Dhaka Structure Plan (1995-2015) of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk). It could not make much headway mainly due to a lack of cooperation from stakeholders, including real estate businesses. Yet, according to urban planners, there is nothing to be happy about the DAP. Rather, it is quite shocking to learn about the countless flaws in the plan that have been pointed out by the stakeholders. Reportedly, the draft DAP was finalised without taking suggestions of urban planners, architects, environmentalists and the government agencies concerned.
As Rajuk has finalised the draft, debates have been raging among city planners as well as the general public on whether it would eventually make the city more unliveable and only satisfy the greed of some powerful quarters. The implementation of the DAP will result in destruction of 70 per cent of the natural water bodies in and around the city, says the Institute of Architects, Bangladesh (IAB). It has warned that the proportion of flood flow zones will be reduced to 17 per cent if it is implemented, whereas the 1995 structure plan intended to keep 66 per cent of the flood flow zones. Reportedly, the DAP proposed major reforms in the most populous areas of Dhaka city with a population density of 700-800 per acre which is the highest in the world.
DAP wants to maintain a population density of 200 people per acre in central Dhaka and 250 per acre in the Old Dhaka areas. Earlier, the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) wanted the government not to approve the plan out of their concerns. If the plan is implemented, it said flat prices would go up by at least 50 per cent. However, the LGRD minister and convener of the cabinet committee on DAP said there is no scope to review any demand or objection of the business community. We suggest more dialogue to further scrutinise the loopholes in the DAP with all stakeholders to transform Dhaka into a liveable and sustainable city.
We have been reminding everybody that without institutions’ discipline and honest people nothing but lies of success we to bear with.
