Staff Reporter :
Over 3,500 business establishments at city’s Dhanmondi, Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara areas in the capital are now under threat as authorities concerned have started an eviction drive against unauthorized business establishments.
In the wake of militant attacks, the government last month took decision to evict commercial establishments in the city’s diplomatic zone, including Gulshan, Baridhara and Banani areas. Now, the owners of commercial establishments at Dhanmondi are now facing threat following the latest court order.
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the High Court verdict that had ordered the removal of all illegal commercial structures from Dhanmondi residential area. Following the order from the apex court, RAJUK [Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkha] can continue their eviction drive in Dhanmondi. The High Court on 11th June, 2012, had ordered to remove all commercial establishments from the Dhanmondi residential areas. However, establishments placed in Dhanmondi 2, Road 27 and Saat Mashjid Road were exempted from the order as the locations were listed under commercial zones beforehand.
Several owners of business establishments told The New Nation that they have built their establishments, such as educational institutions, medical centres, restaurants and hotels, upon approval of authorities concerned such as RAJUK, Dhaka City Corporation [Now Dhaka North and South City Corporations] and University Grant Commission [UGC].
They also claimed that the business establishments have been built with official approval from authorities and have been allowed to carry out their trade for quite a long time. They have invested billions of taka in the meantime. Besides, hundreds of people are now earning their bread from the businesses. So, questions have been raised, if certain establishments are catergorized as illegal, how did they get permission from their respective city corporation and other utility service providers in the first place?
Not only that, how can such illegal businesses continue to function year after year while RAJUK is solely responsible for monitoring illegal establishments? Prominent urban planner Professor Nazrul Islam said that such eviction of commercial establishment is not the only solution to stop militancy. “I think, the government should not make any hurry to execute such decisions,” he said.
Concerned circles also said that it needs rethinking by the government before evict the commercial establishments from the residential areas. While the unemployment rate is increasing, it would not be wide for the government to take such a harsh decision, they said. Besides, the number of foreigners is also increasing. So, the number of commercial establishments must be increased to tackle their demand.
With a view to deterring owners from commercialising residential areas, the government had increased the conversion of land type in Dhaka’s upscale areas by 750% over the past few years. The land or plot owners changed the type of their land by realizing all government fees and other expenditures. “The authorities of gas, electricity, water and other utility suppliers are not supposed to provide their services to any illegal business outlet. We have requested utility providers to cut their services from listed illegal establishments,” Housing and Public Works Minister Mosharaff Hossain said.
