Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Wednesday directed the government to take steps for removal of all unauthorized structures from the car parking places in Dhaka city.
The court asked Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to issue a public notice so that the owners of the illegal structures remove their establishments in parking areas within a month.The High Court bench of Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore and Justice Mohammad Ullah delivered the verdict after hearing a writ petition filed by a rights organization, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB).
Rajuk will circulate the notice in two widely circulated newspapers (Bengali and English) and the authorized officers of Rajuk will inform the matter to the owners, as per the court order.
If the owners do not remove the unauthorized structures within the deadline, the authorities concerned of the government will demolish those within next six months, the court said.
The High Court directed the Rajuk, Dhaka North and South City Corporations and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to submit progress report in this court in every three months.
The HC also asked the authorities concerned to take legal action against those who constructed the unauthorized structures and to realize the demolition cost from them.
Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed the petition on December 14, 2015 saying that the unauthorized structures were the source of traffic congestion in the city.
Advocate Manzill Murshid appeared in the court on behalf of the writ petitioner, while Advocate Imam Hossain stood for the State.
