TIB research reveals
Although it is the responsibility of the Rajuk to ensure sustainable development of Dhaka city, the capital has turned into a haphazard, unplanned and unmanageable city due to ineptness and limitless corruption of the authority.
Besides, irregularities in plan permission, land use clearance, building permission and other processes of Rajuk are obstructing the planned development of the city, some city dwellers observed.
As per the Town Improvement Act 1953 (TI Act 1953) Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkhya is the legitimate authority to prepare land use plan, take care of plan implementation and control development and manage the growth of the capital city.
The main goal of Rajuk is to ensure planned development; promoting healthy urban environment, reducing congestion, preventing development of disputed land use and, above all, ensuring sustainable development of Dhaka city.
But due to corruption, ineptness and undertaking of anti-people plans by the city development authority, the capital city is going inhabitable day by day.
A research of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said failure in the development control process has made Dhaka an unplanned, overcrowded, polluted mega city and inappropriate planning permission process and corruption in the whole system are hindering the planned development of the city.
Impact of corruption is severe but sometimes intangible in nature, one can’t calculate in terms of money. For instance, deprivation of community facilities, sufferings due to congestion, living in pollution etc all are the resultants of bad planning practice and corruption in the planning process which cannot be easily converted in the monitory form, the TIB research added.
Rajuk sources said every year 7,000 to 8,000 people get plan permission for construction of residential and commercial buildings in Dhaka city and not a single plan permission application moves itself without any persuasion. This process gets momentum either by giving bribe or with the help of influential persons.
The unnecessary harassment or time killing or missing of specific files or putting objections on files are most common practice of the authorised sections of Rajuk. To avoid the hassle and get the permission easily, the applicants engage dalals or agents in this process and every case is associated with transaction of huge illegal money.
Rajuk controls all the development activities of Dhaka City under the provisions of Town Improvement Acts, Building Construction Rules and Land Use Regulations within the area under its jurisdiction. Any use of land or any type of construction needs approval or clearance from RAJUK and Authorized Sections are responsible for issuing those land use clearances.
The TIB survey has found that to obtain plan permission, 53 per cent of the clients engage dalals (brokers) to avoid unnecessary delay, 22 per cent to avoid harassment, 7 percent to avoid spending time running after it, 13 per cent to avoid complex process of plan approval and five percent for others reasons.
Micro-level plan deviation starts from the very beginning of plan permission. It was found that for a 3-4 katha plot, the owner needs to spend Tk 15 to Tk 30 thousand extra as bribe beside the regular fees of Rajuk. For bigger plot, this amount is much more. In a very conservative estimation, in a year only for planning permission Taka 20 crore to 25 crore is transacted as bribe, the TIB survey found.
It is not possible to think of a capital city which is well-planned, free from congestion and with healthy environment when the city development authority itself sank into corruption and ineptness. There is no alternative but to complete reorganisation of Rajuk to save Dhaka city, a city dweller opined.
-With Daily Sun input
