Desk Report: Around 70-80 per cent buildings in the capital have been constructed violating the Building Construction Code, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) Chairman Md Abdur Rahman has said, reports Daily Sun.
“Rajuk has been preparing a list of buildings that had been constructed violating the building construction code adopted in 2008. Details about the violation of the building code will be made public in a month and action will be taken accordingly,” he said.
The Rajuk chief made the remarks while addressing a seminar at Bangladesh Institute of Planners in the city on Density Zoning in Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan Area.
Speaking at the seminar, experts said density zoning is crucial for saving the capital from potential hazard and to ensure ample civic amenities.
“The standard density of a mega city is maximum 120 people per unit but in Dhaka, 330 people live in a unit which is many times higher than the standard,” experts said.
Extreme increases in density can directly influence and negatively impact the urban microclimate and have implications on public health, vibrant community, housing affordability, transport, environment, economy, social life, sunlight, air and so on, they said.
They also suggested for dividing the capital into different blocks and increasing the carrying capacities by implementing Density Zoning under the Detailed Area Plan.
Rajuk recently surveyed 3300 buildings in the capital of which 2300 buildings were found as violators of the building code.
The survey found that Dhaka ranks highest in terms of population density in its core built up area with a density of 225 persons per acre.
As the Dhaka city exceeded its carrying capacity due to its high density, mid-rise development is recommended for the central urban area of the city as high rise development does not provide affordable housing and instead it tends to drive houses prices up further, the experts told the seminar.
They said the maximum bundling height should be eight stories in the central urban area if planning permits.
President of Bangladesh Institute of Planners architect Iqbal Habib, Prof AKM Abul Kalam of Urban Planning Department of Jahangirnagar University and eminent architect Mobasher Hossain were among the notable speakers at the seminar.
BIP General Secretary Dr Adil Mohammed Khan presented the keynote at the seminar with Abul Kalam Azad, member (Planning) of Rajuk in the chair.