They also said that in order to ensure the proper development of Dhaka city, the government and civilians would have to help implement the DMDP.

Speakers opposed the dual role of Rajuk and suggested that Rajuk should be relieved from the implementation of housing projects, and should rather involve itself in planning and planning related activities.

Professor Nazrul Islam, presenting his paper in the meeting, said, "The work of the DMDP finished in 1995. It then took two years to get government approval. Although it was supposed to be reviewed once in five years, we could not unfortunately prepare the necessary Detailed Area Plan for DMDP's proper implementation."

Dhaka City Governance Committee - Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA) organised the roundtable titled "Implementation of Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan" which was held at the Planning and Development Academy auditorium yesterday.

"During the Pakistani regime, Dhaka evolved as a city according to the master plan adopted in 1959. Afterwards, owing to excess population, everything collapsed," said Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka.

"If we cannot contain the excessive growth of population in the country no plan can be implemented and development cannot be ensured," added Khoka.

Sadeque Hossain Khoka emphasised the need for a new master plan for expansion of Dhaka up to Savar. "If this new master plan is adopted what we can do is to undertake massive publicity so that people precisely will know about it. The people then may not dare violate imperatives of the master plan."

"We should not waste our time mudslinging the previous governments. We all should now concentrate on building a better and modern Dhaka," said Khoka.

"If we wish to save Dhaka we have to stop rural migration. In fact, we will have to make rural people less enthusiastic in migrating to Dhaka," said Housing and Public Works Minister Mirza Abbas.

"We will have to decentralise many things so that the rural and urban people can get sufficient facilities in their respective areas," said Abbas.

"In Bangladesh, problems and its solutions run each other like railway tracks. They never meet. The same thing happened to the DMDP which had been prepared but not implemented," said Abbas.

"Whenever I wanted to do something against the indiscriminate filling of low lying areas around Dhaka city it seemed as if I wanted to protect my property. If we cannot stop filling the marshy lands around the Airport and its adjacent areas an inevitable disruption of the movement of crafts in the airport is likely," said Abbas.

He urged the members of civil society to form a forum like BAPA to oppose black mailers harming the city immensely.

Mirza Abbas vowed that under any circumstance, he would do his best to stop the Turag River from any sort of grabbing and filling.

Professor Mozaffar Ahmed, Abdul Al Muhit, Housing and Public Works Secretary Aminur Rahman, Rajuk Chairman Iqbal Uddin Ahmed, BAPA General Secretary Abu Naser Khan and many others spoke at the meeting.