On the other hand, parking spaces in many commercial buildings are being leased out to private companies for other purposes.

With increasing number of vehicles plying the city streets, more and more road space is being occupied by parked vehicles. There is a gradual reduction of road space for the movement of traffic. Vehicles are forced to move through narrower road.

Very few secured parking areas are available in the city's shopping malls.

"According to the Building Construction Act, shopping malls or other commercial buildings must have adequate space for parking," said KAM Haroon, chairman, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).

"Only the DCC can charge fees, but for the parking on streets only," he added.

The Building Construction Act made it mandatory for builders to keep parking space. The law specifies that 'parking space to be provided within the property and is in proportion to the total floor area of the buildings within the property.'

"If the law specifies that there should be a parking space then shopping malls cannot charge for parking. Technically they are violating existing rules," said ASM Emdadud Dastagir, a magistrate of the Rajuk.

Shopping mall owners are charging car owners for the maintenance of the parking space.

"We have an underground parking space facility for 1,000 cars. We use a powerful exhaust fan to clear the fumes emitted by these cars. Our parking charge is Tk 10 per car. It is the maintenance cost of the exhaust fan," said Latiful Hossain, resident director, Bashundhara city shopping mall. "The charge also covers the security."

But Dastagir said: "They cannot collect fees from customers for maintenance. I don't see why the customers should bear the maintenance cost. The law clearly states that building owners are responsible for the maintenance of their parking space."

Some building owners are using their parking space for different purposes or leasing out the space to private companies, Dastagir said citing example of the recent eviction of Meena Bazar. On January 21, Rajuk vacated the ground floor of the Dhanmondi branch of Meena Bazar, a chain supermarket, for violating building design.

According to the original design, the owner of Meena Bazar had an approval for the multi-storey building on Satmasjid Road with its ground floor and basement to be used for car parking. But the Meena Bazar authorities violated the rule by setting up the supermarket on the ground floor and using the basement as the store.

According to the Rajuk-approved design, basement and ground floor are supposed to be parking spaces. "LabAid and Agora in Dhanmondi also violated the same rule by renting parking space or using it for different purposes," Dastagir mentioned.

LabAid in Dhanmondi road-3 has a 100-bed cardiac hospital, a 250-bed general hospital and a diagnostic and consultation centre. They are using the designated parking space as lab for the diagnostic centre.

Rifles Square leased out the parking space on a yearly basis for Tk 21 lakh. Its operation is now run by private owner who charges Tk 10 per car.

Shop and Save, Almas Super Market and PQS are also using a part of the parking space as part of the market.

Rajuk identified 50 buildings in the city's Dhanmondi area, which violated parking space rules. The buildings include hospitals, clinics, supermarkets, fast food shops, and diagnostic centres. Because of this, customers are forced to park on the street, which causes severe traffic jam in the area.