Rajuk's dilemma over illegal buildings
Morshed Ali Khan
Rajuk is facing a dilemma over 17 illegally constructed buildings in the city which need to be demolished immediately for safety reasons, Rajuk officials said. Rajuk Chairman Shahid Alam admitted these three to six-storey buildings are posing a serious threat to public safety, and said they are preparing to demolish the structures soon. Most of the buildings are in Nikunja area, he added. Official sources pointed out that owners of at least four of the 17 buildings have obtained court injunction on Rajuk's demolition move. Rajuk (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha) has listed 111 buildings for demolition partially or fully. Of the listed buildings, 17 were built without any approval or design. Rajuk inspection teams checked these structures and confirmed they could collapse. Rajuk's demolition squad however remained inactive for months as the organisation had no magistrate to accompany it, a mandatory provision. Now that a magistrate has just joined Rajuk, the demolition team will go for a drive. About Tk 5 lakh has also been allocated to meet the cost of demolishing these 17 structures, said Shahid. Sources mentioned that Rajuk is to demolish three categories of buildings. The 17 illegal structures are in the first category. The second category consists of 62 buildings which have defied height restrictions. Rajuk plans to 'manually' demolish the unauthorised floors of these buildings. The list for the third category was sent to Rajuk by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab). Top officials of Rajuk said they are in an 'embarrassing' situation over CAAB's decision to declare the old Tejgaon airport as an 'alternative' airport in 2002, while Rajuk had approved several high-rise structures in the area. "In 1996, after Caab declared Tejgaon airport non- functional, Rajuk started approving construction of buildings in the areas around the airport. But now we are told to disregard the earlier decision and demolish those buildings," said Shahid. Caab's fresh decision has led to a discord between the two organisations, a Rajuk official said, requesting anonymity. "The buildings which were built after 1996 had approval both from Caab and Rajuk. Now we cannot ask their owners to pull those down."
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