Blame is the name of the game

Has the BNBC stopped incidences of fire in so many garments factories in Mirpur, Banani, Malibag, or elsehwhere? Or collapses of buildings? The answer is no!

We prepared a Structure Plan for Dhaka in 1995, adopted in 1997. Half of its life is almost over. Yet many of its provisions cannot be enforced, as there is no "Detail Area Plan" -- an integral part of the plan. It is still referred to as the "Master Plan" -- an obsolete concept, as nobody bothered to re-enact the half-century old law that says we should have master plan(s). Can you imagine that the mega-city existed without any official plan in the 1980s and most of the 1990s, as the first 1959 Master Plan period expired in 1979? Indeed, all the projections of that plan were outdone by the city's growth as the plan was based on several questionable assumptions and in no way envisaged independence and its aftermath. Even many of the provisions of the current (structure) plan are violated -- for example the development of Eusufganj instead of consolidating the existing conurbation. This is because Rajuk has turned itself into a real-estate developer instead of being a planning control authority, and in the process has become one of the most corrupt organisations, and everybody has turned a blind eye to it.

Has the 1995 "plan" stopped the uncontrolled and unplanned growth of the city? The answer is no!

We have a "Building Construction Rule" formulated and modified several times (last in 1996) under another half-century old law. A fresh revision is underway due to a long advocacy and concerted efforts of IAB, REHAB, and BAPA, in association with the Rajuk. However, the old laws and refusals of some quarters to accepts the benefits of modern techniques currently practiced world-wide often made impossible the preparation of a modern development control tool that could lead our urban areas in to this new millennium. Many of the provisions of the existing rules are absurd and often without basis, for example the limits of six stories.

Could the "Building Construction Rules" stop the unsafe and unhealthy practices in the construction sector or in planning permissions, which could avoid the disasters if implemented properly and impartially? The answer is no!

We prepared a "National Housing Policy" in 1993 after another long advocacy by the housing experts and insistence of the international bodies. But its provisions were seldom followed. Because of lack of implementation and gross violations, it became a list of unfulfilled wishes. We are now about to update this, the official reason being need of the time. However, the housing scenario has not changed in last one decade, neither did emerge any new concepts or solutions. The changes began in the wake of large-scale forced evictions of the 1997-98, which the government wanted to justify by re-writing the policy. No law has been enacted based on the policy and hence except for the spirit, there is no legal protection for the poor struggling to survive.

Has the 1993 "Housing Policy" stopped the evictions, growth of slums in the city, or the housing problems of the majority? The answer is no!

We had several "Long Term National Plans" starting from 1973. These included a section on "Physical Planning and Housing" that were full of contradictions between stated policy (no staff colony) and declared programmes (staff colony). Thus they turned out to be another list of wishful thinking and pet projects. Among the wishes were introduction of industrial system building, encouragement of co-operative living, procurement of modern equipment, strengthening of research in materials and techniques, etc. None of these ever materialised as no effective strategy were undertaken.

Have the "National Plans" taken us to a path of uniform and sustainable settlement development? The answer again is no!

So what went wrong?

Almost everything!

We put nice words and current jargon in the policies, but our strategies and implementation are not good enough to enforce good practices. We are continuing what we have been doing year after year, irrespective of what might the Policies, Plans or Rules say. We do not have any accountability. There are no custodians with independent authority to curb any anomaly regarding compliance to any of the Plans, Policies, etc. The formation of any such authority has always been resisted by the vested quarters. And this has unleashed a campaign of institutional corruption and greed, violation of human rights and plunder of scarce resources, loss of lives, and damage of property.

And we are still muddling with finding whose responsibilities it was by pointing the finger of blame at one other.

Mahbubur Rahman PhD, an architect-urban designer, offers settlement and design courses at various universities.