Government plans to redevelop Old Dhaka

The government has forged a plan to redevelop Old Dhaka in a ‘planned manner’ for widening its roads and public spaces through vertical expansion.
Instructed by the housing ministry, Rajdhani Unnyayan Kartripakkhya, Rajuk in short, has started a feasibility study for redeveloping 11 wards of Dhaka South City Corporation, or DSCC, known as Old Dhaka.
‘We expect to get the study report soon for redeveloping Old Dhaka in a planned way for providing better services to the locals and making the area less vulnerable to earthquake and fire,’ housing minister SM Rezaul Karim told New Age.
‘We have already shared the plan with the DSCC mayor and local communities,’ he said. 
According to the plan, no land would be acquired. 
‘Following the Rajuk plan, locals would form cooperatives or would sign contracts collectively with any developer or Rajuk. After the construction of high-rises, locals would share apartments and shops, Rajuk officials said. 
‘It will help widen the roads and increase more public spaces and, in turn, assist in dealing with fire incidents and emergencies following an earthquake in the disaster-prone Old Dhaka,’ Rajuk town planner M Ashraful Islam said.
According to Ashraf, over 90 out of a total of 127.99 km roads in Old Dhaka have width less than 15 feet, posing a major problem in providing utility services and in tackling fire incidents and other disasters.
‘Over 475,596 people live in 24,504 houses in 11 wards of the Old Dhaka. Around 40 per cent of the houses are one-storied buildings,’ he said, adding that these one- or two-storied buildings can be replaced by high-rises and be shared among the existing owners. 
‘Singapore, Japan and South Korea have redeveloped their old towns and they ended up with very good results,’ he said. 
The locals and development experts, however, expressed concerns over the government plan for redevelopment in Old Dhaka.
The locals expressed concerns over losing their possessions of the properties they inherited if the government demolished the existing structures for construction of high-rises with the aim of vertical expansion.
‘Why should I demolish my two-storey building for getting an apartment? And if I choose to do so, who will pay my house rent during the development project?’ asked Sirajul Islam, a residence of Sutrapur.
The development experts, on the other hand, fear that redevelopment historic Old Dhaka will destroy its unique character.
‘The heritage sites of the Old Dhaka must be protected at any cost,’ said policy research institute of Bangladesh director Sarwar Jahan.
Instead of taking common strategy for redeveloping all the 11 wards of Old Dhaka, the government should take some pilot projects in limited areas without destroying the historical characters of those areas, he added.
According to department of archaeology, 75 heritage sites are there in the Old Dhaka. 
A High Court Division bench in August 2018 ordered the archaeology department to prepare a fresh list of the heritage sites after scrutinising every building listed by the Urban Study Group.
Urban Study Group, USG in short, placed a list 2,200 historic buildings to the HC. The HC also ordered Rajuk to protect all historical buildings.
‘Heritage buildings are located all over Old Dhaka. Then, how will the government execute its redevelopment plan?,’ asked USG chief executive officer Taimur Islam. 
‘There are many cities in Europe where people can just walk, where large vehicles cannot enter. But, they are protecting their heritages and even providing all civic facilities to these sites,’ he said.
‘Such redevelopment may work in Jatrabari or Rampura but not in historic Old Dhaka,’ he said.
Taimur said that Rajuk should work for reducing density of population of Old Dhaka in the light of Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan 1995-2015.
Housing minister SM Rezaul Karim, however, expressed his determination over executing the plan at any cost. 
‘We will be able to make the locals realise the importance of such plan after recent fire tragedies in the area,’ he said.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net