Bangladesh News

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) has decided to cut off utility services to the buildings built in violation of the approved design.

The extent of violation is overwhelming, said Rajuk Director (Development Control) Sheikh Abdul Mannan.

“We had no other option but to go for the stringent measure against buildings with various deviations from approved design,” he said.

Rajuk at a meeting on March 18 chaired by its Chairman Md Shafiqul Islam decided to take punitive measure against violation of approved design.

Any kind of extension and alteration or change in a building beyond approved design is considered as a deviation. Usually Rajuk demolishes only the unauthorised portion of a building.

Rajuk Chairman Md Shafiqul Islam said, “We have identified over two thousand such buildings so far to be demolished after notifying them under the building act.”

Rajuk has already taken actions against one or two cases of such violation but it will continue it on regular basis from now on, said Mannan.

The rule 29 of the Metropolitan Building Rules-2008 provide for such action, said Mannan.

Representatives of Dhaka Wasa, Desa, Titas Gas, Dhaka City Corporation, Bangladesh Bank and House Building Finance Corporation, among others, attended the meeting.

Desa, Wasa and Titas respectively will begin to snap electricity, water, and gas supply lines of a deviant building as identified by Rajuk while DCC will cancel trade licence and other documents required for clearance.

The central bank and other financial institutions too will deny loan or other financial support to such building owners.

“If anything like that is decided with government nod we can disconnect water supply of a building identified by Rajuk as deviant,” he said.

Rajuk has marked over two thousand buildings in the capital for demolition for flouting building rules including those which are using their car parking space for commercial purposes, he added.

Absence of a required car parking space and its abuse are foremost deviations from the approved design, said Rajuk officials.

Most of the errant-building owners have converted their existing parking facility into commercial uses, they said.

Absence and abuse of car parking facility particularly at commercial multi-storey buildings contributed mostly to the perennial traffic congestion, said experts.

Rajuk’s much-hyped drive against building deviations during the caretaker government failed to yield any lasting result, they added.

Authorities have failed to set it right, as most of the owners are influential, said Prof Muzaffer Ahmad, chairman of the Transparency International Bangladesh.