A new Master Plan for Dhaka

A new Dhaka master plan has been drafted. And apart from saying that the old master plan was drawn up sitting at home, the minister for housing has not offered any rationale for why it wasn't implemented. The DAP of the existing master plan was a gazetted document which had taken long years to complete. The argument that the current plan, which is about to expire, is not good enough and a pragmatic DAP needs to be designed does not sound convincing. 

It has been alleged by various bodies and professionals that the new plan is being formulated, keeping the experts in the dark; even the two mayors have not been made aware of the new draft plan. Allegedly, this is an effort to give undue privileges to realtors at the cost of preserving wetlands, a must for any major urban centre.  

The reality on the ground is that filling up canals, wetlands and water bodies have played havoc with Dhaka's drainage systems. And in this, some unscrupulous developers and realtors have played a major role. We have seen the consequences of such mindless activity on the city very recently. 

The fear of environmental activists is perhaps not entirely unfounded, that the new plan ultimately passed into legislation without an exhaustive consultative process in its formulation, will lead to disaster. We firmly believe that rushing into finalising the new plan without professional input of experts, would be merely toying with future of Dhaka city and its surrounding areas.