A rush job is not the answer

Prof Nazrul Islam

We had the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) previously, the duration of which was 20 years, from 1995 till 2015. There were three stages of that plan: Structure Plan for the whole city area, Urban Area Plan, which was for ten years, and Detailed Area Plan (DAP). The structure plan was a generalised plan in which the main categories, mainly transportation network, housing and utility services, commercial and residential areas, wetlands and water retention areas, etc. were outlined. To implement any master plan or structure plan, DAP is a must. But the major weakness of the DMDP was that the DAP was not implemented. The plan was made in 1995 and approved in 1997. Then it took 13 years, from 1997 to 2010, to formulate the DAP. In the last five years, the most significant project was the Hatirjheel project, which was not in the original plan. Some roads and flyovers were constructed. At present, the government is developing some residential towns - for example, Purbachal- which has now been incorporated in the plan. But conservation of the wetlands, the most important part of the plan, was not done. The land developers worked as they wished and ministerial committees also favoured them. Thus, the DAP was not implemented properly. 

The new structure plan, now at the final stage, has been prepared where a Korean company worked as a consultant. So now they have shared their draft plan with the experts through a two-day long seminar. There are 10 direct sectors along with two to three background sectors in the plan, which have been reviewed in the seminar. I think it is a good initiative but there are many shortcomings. The methodology is alright. But the participation of professionals and experts in formulating the plan was not satisfactory. City mayors have said that they were not very involved in the process. There are four city corporations covered by DAP, namely, Dhaka North, Dhaka South, Narayanganj, Gazipur; five municipalities; and 70 union parishads. In order to implement this plan, the involvement of the local stakeholders is necessary. Experts' opinions must be sought in order to make a sustainable structure plan. While developers do not like the proposal of protection of wetlands and conservation of water retention areas, environmental planners and activists are saying that they are not sure whether the flood flow zones and the drainage systems that are in the plan will be maintained in reality. Transportation and communication with other cities were not explained well. It would have been better if they had followed the Strategic Transport Plan (STP). The social structure sector was totally ignored in the plan. We have to plan keeping in mind which group of people will live in the city areas: rich, middle class, lower middle class, poor, or ultra poor. We have to make sure that special groups, for example aged population, children, physically challenged people, etc., were configured in the plan. Some of the sectors need to be revised while some sectors need to be included. Do they have any provision for the housing of the poor? Sector-wise detailed plans are needed. There is a reference to the informal sector, but it was not integrated properly in the plan. 

Dhaka is a city of cultural events. The strength of Dhaka's culture has not been considered. The planners didn't even communicate with cultural personalities or experts. I have seen no historians at the seminar. The cover of the proposal was really misleading. I was wondering whether the picture was of Dhaka or Korea. We could have used the picture of Suhrawardy Uddyan, the Parliament building or the National Mausoleum. Neither the foreign planners nor the local ones had that in mind. I think there must be thorough discussions on all the sectors. We can't just finalise a plan for 20 years based on two-day discussions. 

All we need is to identify the weaknesses of the plan and remove them. People should be given a chance to read the plan, so there must be a Bangla version of the plan. What is worrying is that they have started to make the DAP even before the master plan has been approved, which is totally unacceptable. Finally, the government should not rush to approve the plan.

The commentator is Chairman, Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) and former Chairman of UGC.