Satellite towns to expand Dhaka

The unplanned city fast turning into a concrete jungle. PHOTO: Syed Zakir Hossain

The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) has recently decided to develop the towns and also identified the locations in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Savar and Keraniganj. The project will be implemented on around 2,500 acre khas land. The proposed towns will be developed keeping in mind the demand of low and middle-income groups of people.

Meanwhile, district administrators of Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur at the PSC meeting on September 2, expressed their desire to build five satellite towns on over 2,500 acres of land under their jurisdiction.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

According to surveys conducted by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and other non-government organisations, the city experiences the arrival of 5,000 people every day although it is already over-burdened with more than 10 million residents.

The district authorities submitted a list of government land at a recent meeting of the PSC on the Ministry of Land. The parliamentary body is working to identify the lands for recommending them to the government for construction of the satellite towns.

"All these areas are on Dhaka's periphery and the proposed towns will be modern and convenient for people," said Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of the parliamentary body on land ministry.

Among the proposed locations, Paslaish of Gazipur and Sonargaon in Narayanganj have already received the green signal, according to sources. A final report will be submitted after inspections of the sites following which, the parliamentary committee will decide on how to implement the project.

"I have personally discussed the matter with the Prime Minister and she has approved the idea. The high officials of the land ministry and members of the parliamentary body will soon visit the proposed locations. If we find the places appropriate for constructing the towns, we will then recommend initiation of the project to the government," said Mahbubur Rahman.

The parliamentary committee meeting also discussed the status of pending cases related to land acquisition since 1948. There are about 743 such cases being contested between the government and affected owners.

People, whose lands have been acquired by the government since 1948, are supposed to receive Tk 342 crore from the government, said sources.

District Commissioner of Dhaka Md. Abdul Bari told Star City that they had the money and would compensate the affected people within the next few months. The parliamentary committee was also reportedly assured that the pending cases would be resolved in a year's time.

It was still not clear which agency of the government would implement the satellite town project.

"If the government asks us, we are ready to work on the project," said Rajuk's chief engineer M Emdadul Islam when contacted.