Rajuk pulled up for not demolishing vulnerable buildings
Although the government directed Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to demolish the 321 buildings identified as vulnerable within May 27, they did not execute the decision, alleged Shah Kamal, secretary of the disaster management and relief ministry.
“They (Rajuk) are now dilly-dallying to demolish the buildings. They are trying to pass the task on the city corporations,” he said today while addressing a workshop in Dhaka city.
Even the city corporations have been also asked to execute the decision but nothing happened yet, the secretary added. Earlier in the last January, he revealed that there are over 72,000 risky buildings in Dhaka city prone to earthquakes.
Contacted, Rajuk’s acting Chairman Abdur Rahman told The Daily Star that they are not the legal authorities to demolish the buildings. “It’s not our job. We have informed the ministry that it’s the task of the city corporations to demolish the buildings,” he said.
Last April 27, the government directed Rajuk and two city corporations of Dhaka to demolish the buildings at a meeting of National Earthquake Preparedness and Awareness Committee held with Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya in the chair.
The minister said the committee asked the authorities concerned of Rajuk and two city corporations to submit a report after demolishing the risky buildings. It also asked Rajuk to submit a full report on the present situation of those buildings within seven working days.
But neither the Rajuk nor the city corporations executed their tasks.
However, two renowned urban planners and disaster management experts---Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury and Prof Nazrul Islam expressed frustrations over the authorities’ failures to execute the decisions taken in different times to reinforce the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) to reduce the vulnerability.
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