The total area space of a building will be reduced by 33-53 percent and the cost of a flat would increase by 50 percent if the Dhaka Building Construction Act-2021 under the RAJUK’s detail area plan (DAP) for 2016-35 is implemented, according to REHAB, the association of  real estate developers.

Dhaka still remains the only center for the country’s people for livelihood, earning, medical treatment, advanced education and judicial arbitration, they said Sunday. 
Without decentralization, the plan for reducing the population of Dhaka city or preventing migration to Dhaka is nothing but a nightmare, they claimed.

Leaders of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB), the apex body of real estate traders, held a press conference in a hotel in the capital on Sunday. 
REHAB leaders claimed in the press conference that they had heard that RAJUK was planning to reduce the population density in Dhaka by implementing the Dhaka Building Construction Act-2021.

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REHAB President Alamgir Shamsul Alamin read out a written statement at the press conference. REHAB  Vice President Kamal Mahmud, Nazrul Islam, Sharif Ali Khan and Mohammad Sohel Rana, also spoke, among others, in the press conference.

The REHAB president said that according to the Dhaka Building Construction Act 2008, a total of 13,000 square feet could be allowed to be built in a maximum 8-storey building on a 5-katha plot adjacent to a 20-foot road.

If the proposed act is implemented, a total of 9,000 square feet building with maximum 5 floors could be constructed on the same piece of land, he said.

And in case of roads less than 20 feet wide, the height of the building will not be more than 3-4 storey.

“If the size of the building is reduced, the landowners will never get the flats as planned or as per the demand. As the number of flats decreases, then the house rent will increase severely as the cost for building went up,” Alamgir added.

He said 269 allied industries including ceramics, sanitary, tiles, rods, cement, stone, sand and paint would also be in deep crisis if the size of the buildings was reduced severely. 

REHAB president further said that there are more than 21 lakh establishments in the RAJUK area of which 84 per cent are single stored embellishment. 

“More than 6-storey installations are only 0.67 percent and 8-storey establishments are only 0.16 per cent. As a result, it is questionable how realistic it is to try to use the size or height of the building as a tool to reduce the population density of Dhaka city,” he raised question.

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He suggested that the proposed DAP and Building Construction Acts can be finalized on the basis of the consultation of experts and urban planners, architects, professionals and stakeholders before final approval.