Unplanned construction bane for city
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data tells us that we are losing agriculture land at the rate of one percent per year. Indeed the unplanned construction housing boom in the capital city has transformed the landscape of the city beyond recognition. Most of it has come from transforming agricultural land, and government data tells us that while we were losing 13,413 hectares of farmlands per year till the year 2000, that figure skyrocketed to 68,000 hectares per annum after that. It has become increasingly difficult to hold on to farmlands and water bodies in the face of relentless construction by real estate companies in the absence of any government policy governing land usage.
We have covered this issue extensively over the years and although some hope has been pinned on the proposed "City and Area Planning Act 2017", it remains in draft form—yet to be passed into legislation through passage in parliament. Such a policy would put a halt to any and all unplanned construction which we have been seeing over the last three decades. Any realtor would first have to seek permission and there would be provision for rigorous imprisonment for any party violating the rules. Given the dire straits we find ourselves in when it comes to land grabbing, it is high time that the policy is enacted into law. Experts believe that with such a policy in place, the proposed zoning of the city, and indeed the country, between agriculture and non-agriculture lands could get off the drawing board and we could finally move towards a planned city.
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