United News of Bangladesh

The government has planned to enforce major changes to Dhaka's urban governance framework, introducing strict penalties and a long-awaited legal overhaul as the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) has begun the process of legitimising hundreds of thousands of unauthorised buildings across Dhaka. Breaking a decades-long stalemate, Rajuk has drafted its first-ever policy to assess and regularise structures built without approved designs. The government is also set to replace the 38-year-old Rajuk Act with a new legal instrument, the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) Ordinance–2025, featuring tough enforcement provisions. Urban planners say the new law and draft regularisation policy mark a significant step towards tackling Dhaka’s illegal construction, unplanned urbanisation and recurring building safety risks. But they emphasise that effective implementation, not new legislation, will prove the real challenge. Legitimising Buildings Rajuk acknowledges that a vast number of buildings within its jurisdiction have been constructed without official design approval. The new draft policy proposes bringing such buildings under regulation if they do not violate the National Building Code or Rajuk’s master plan. Read more: Rajuk to demolish 3,382 buildings in Dhaka for design violations, says chairman Owners seeking legal status will be required to pay penalties equivalent to three to five times the design approval fee. According to Rajuk sources, the draft policy has already been presented to the Urban Development Committee, which has made several recommendations. Major Reform With the long-outdated Town Improvement Act of 1953 deemed irrelevant in today’s context, the government is moving to replace it with the ordinance 2025. The new ordinance introduces provisions on Rajuk’s accountability, urban redevelopment, land readjustment and government appropriation of land value gains, among other reforms. Harsh Penalties The draft ordinance includes stringent penalties for a wide range of offences: Violating the master plan will carry up to two years’ imprisonment or a Tk 10 crore fine, or both; continued offences will incur Tk 10,000 per day. Building structures exceeding 10 feet in an open space will draw a Tk 50 lakh fine. Read more: Rajuk's law, board structure need to change to make it people-centric: Environment Adviser Filling low-lying land or obstructing natural water flow without approval will attract two years’ jail or a Tk 10 crore fine. Encroaching on roads for construction will lead to a Tk 75 lakh fine or six months’ imprisonment. Obstructing Rajuk’s work will result in four months’ jail or a Tk 10 lakh fine. Constructing a makeshift hut (kacha or kutcha structure) without permission may bring a Tk 5 lakh fine or three months’ imprisonment; continued offences will incur Tk 2,000 per day. Expert Opinions Under the new ordinance, Rajuk’s board will be expanded from five to ten members. Rajuk Chairman Riazul Islam told UNB that the final decision on the board’s composition and qualifications will be taken after consultations with professional bodies. “This will be done very soon,” he said. Professor Dr Adil Muhammad Khan, President of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners, said Rajuk has become overly focused on development projects instead of its core regulatory responsibilities. “Unless the bureaucratic structure is reformed, these changes will not deliver results,” he told UNB. While acknowledging the new law and policy as a ‘major step’ towards resolving Dhaka’s illegal construction and safety crisis, he reiterated that enforcement would be the real test. DAP Revision The government has also approved, in principle, the revision of the 2022 Detailed Area Plan (DAP). The updated plan reduces Dhaka’s administrative blocks from 275 to 68 and limits the city’s area to 1,094 square kilometres. Key Changes: · Increased building height and density limits (from 250 to 300). · Doubling of Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in many zones, enabling 10–11-storey construction where five storeys were previously allowed. · Lifetime validity for occupancy certificates. · Mandatory sewage treatment plants for buildings on five kathas or more. · Extension of application processing time from 45 days to 180 days. Read more: Landowners besiege Rajuk demanding cancellation of DAP

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) on Tuesday informed the High Court that some 26,777 out of total 30,000 documents which were disappeared from its  server have been recovered. Imam Hasan, a lawyer who stood for Rajuk, presented the information to the High Court bench led by Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder . Hasan also said that the documents were hacked from the server by cybercriminals, but those have been retrieved. The deleted files have been recovered by the consulting firm Technohaven Company Limited, according to Rajuk. Following the update, the High Court directed the three-member inquiry committee of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to submit a report within 60 days of receiving the order and fixed  July 9 for next order. Lawyer Md. Khurshid Alam Khan stood for the ACC  while Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the state. Read more: Breaching Rajuk plan: Most markets under Dhaka city corporations at fire risk The incident was first reported by Prothom Alo on December 29, 2022, with a headline stating '30,000 customers’ documents are missing from Rajuk.' On January 2, senior lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan brought the report to the attention of the court. Following this, the High Court sought  an explanation from the Rajuk Chairman and asked the ACC to investigate the matter. On Tuesday, Rajuk filed an affidavit confirming the recovery of the missing documents, while the ACC said that they are currently investigating the incident. The committee has already requested information from Rajuk. According to Rajuk's affidavit, on December 6, 2022, the documents stored in BDCSL's data center were deleted, and the Construction Permit (CP) system was stopped after a malicious attack. The system was later reactivated on December 21. On December 22, Rajuk filed a GD at Motijheel police station, while on January 26, they made an agreement with Buet for investigation over the incident. Buet's investigation team submitted an interim report on the matter on April 29, and their final report is expected soon.

Imagine an Old Dhaka with wider roads, less congestion, better water and electricity supply. That’s what the  Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) wants to achieve in its ambitious plan to refurbish the centuries-old Mughal-era parts of the capital city, better known as Old Dhaka. The city development authority has selected seven spots for renovation of Old Dhaka where feasibility studies are going to start soon. The spots are Islampur, Chawkbazar, Bongshal, Moulvibazar, Hazaribag, Swarighat and Kamrangirchar, where the dwellers face problems like narrow lanes, rundown buildings, high population density, risky electricity connection, lack of pure drinking water, decreasing open spaces and faulty drainage system, said Ashraful Islam, Chief City Planner of Rajuk and Project Director of Rajuk’s Detailed Area Plan (DAP). Read: Chemical warehouses: Old Dhakaites still living with ticking time bombs

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to take high care of environment and ecology while taking up any development project. "Everybody has to pay attention to environment in any project,” she said. “The project has to be executed keeping water reservoirs, adequate green area and rainwater harvesting system.” The prime minister made the directives while witnessing the designs of four projects, which were presented by the Housing and Public Works Ministry and the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) at her official residence Ganobhaban, said a press release from the Press Wing of the Prime Minister’s Office. The four projects are Keraniganj Waterfront Smart City, Conservation of Flood Zone at Turag River and Compact Township Development, Construction of Sheikh Hasina International Convention Centre at Zajira end of Padma Bridge in Shibchar (Madaripur) and Construction of Multistoried Residential Building for Government Officials and Employees at Sher-e Bangla Nagar in Dhaka. Also Read: PM Hasina: I had to redesign the Padma Bridge to make it longer

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday sought information of the assets of Sharifa Begum, wife of Additional DIG Mokhlesur Rahman, from the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK).

 

The long-standing inhabitants and affected people of the Purbachal New Town project area will get plots within next December.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday dropped the names of seven people including former Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) chairman Humayun Khadem from the charge sheet of a case filed over the FR Tower fire.

‘Golden Monir’, an ordinary salesman who turned super rich ‘through corruption’, is going to lose the ownership of 200 plots if the alarming allegations of irregularities surfaced against him are proved right, said the Rajuk Chairman.

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) officials, allowing the construction of illegal buildings, will be under the radar of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) now.