Why is unplanned development still rising?

Lack of awareness, weak regulation, proper planning, and coordination gap are the prime reasons behind the unplanned developments of a large number of projects in Bangladesh, said speakers at a closing ceremony of a two-day training on Housing Plan held on Wednesday.

Press Institute Bangladesh (PIB) facilitated the training for the members of the Urban Development Journalists Forum Bangladesh at the PIB auditorium in Dhaka. 

Secretary of Housing and Public Works ministry Md Shahid Ullah Khandaker said at the ceremony that the violation of rules could not be monitored properly by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) because of the lack of human resources. 

“RAJUK monitors construction of city buildings and checks if the plan of the authorities is violated. But RAJUK does not have adequate human resources to monitor processes in the enormous city,” he said. 

He also urged the engineers and architects to maintain professional honesty and check the rules properly of building plans and strictly follow them as they also sometimes influence people to break the rules.

“Building owners get building design passed but they don’t follow it properly. If people are respectful of the law then illegal activities will go down,” Md Shahid Ullah expressed his hope from the owners. 

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He also said adding that different ministries of the government were taking projects to build infrastructure like schools without any technical capacities which may also encourage unplanned development. 

He added: “It is not bad that different ministries are building infrastructures of their own sectors. But they lack technical and planning expertise which may encourage unplanned development by the rampant erection of buildings.”

President of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh Alamgir Shamsul Alamin said at the occasion that the government builds infrastructure under mega projects but the optimum benefit of the projects is not achievable due to lack of necessary attention and proper inspection.

Director-General Press Institute of Bangladesh Zafar Wazed, President and General Secretary of Urban Development Forum Bangladesh Motin Abdullah, and others participated on the occasion as speakers.