Urban planners and government officials yesterday urged the government to formulate the national master plan for planned urbanisation in cities and towns across the country.
In a four-point demand, they also demanded immediate steps for protecting waterbodies, wetlands and also open spaces in the capital as well as in cities and towns elsewhere in the country, arguing that encroachers continue to grab these.
The demands were raised at a seminar organised by Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Sheltech (Pvt) Ltd. Held at the BIP secretariat in the capital, it was arranged on occasion of the World Urban Planning Day 2014 and was chaired by BIP President Professor Dr Golam Rahman.
“We have heard enough about the Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for the capital but where is the result? I think political influence is hindering the proper implementation of the DAP,” said Selina Hayat Ivy, mayor of Narayanganj city.
Blasting influential political leaders, she said she failed to undertake planned development projects in 11 years of serving as the mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation and the former municipality.
“Property developers and big business firms like Bashundhara, Ashiyan and Akij are building residential facilities and industries by filling up agricultural lands as well as wetlands in Dhaka and also in Narayanganj,” Ivy said.
“If this continues, it will be impossible to turn the capital into a planned city,” she added.
Ivy also urged the government to seriously consider implementation of DAP in order to make Dhaka a planned and habitable city in the future.
Md Nurullah, additional chief engineer (urban management) of LGED, said: “Most of the cities in the country were built in an unplanned way. Of the 11 city corporations and 324 municipalities, none was built according to the master plan. How can we expect citizen services from these offices?”
“Every community has to be involved when implementing the master plan,” he added.
At the end of the seminar, students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Jahangirnagar University and Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology were given awards for a range of accomplishments.
Earlier in the day, the BIP held a rally in the capital in observance of the World Urban Planning Day.