Staff Reporter
Housing and Public Works Minister Zakaria Taher yesterday said rules are being formulat-ed for the buildings con-structed without ap-proved plans or in viola-tion of approved designs.
“Work is underway on this,” he said while ad-dressing the Smart City Conclave 2026, orga-nized by Bonik Barta at Hotel Sheraton in Bana-ni.
The minister said six new development authorities have been established in Mymensingh, Sylhet, Cumilla, Narayanganj, Rangpur and Barishal in the past seven months, in addition to RAJUK.
Work is also underway to establish one in Bogura, he added.
He said where develop-ment authorities are ab-sent, city corporations often approve plans and implement projects themselves, creating a lack of checks and bal-ances.
“We are trying to bring everyone under a com-prehensive legal frame-work,” he said.
Regarding Gulshan and Banani, Taher said 70 to 80 percent of houses may not have the septic tanks and soak wells required under the original plans.
The government is hold-ing meetings with local residential societies in-cluding Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara societies to address the issue, he said.
He said authorities pre-viously approved mainly architectural plans, but now they are seeking to include structural, elec-trical and other necessary designs.
After construction, the designers will certify that buildings were properly constructed before occu-pancy certificates are issued, he said.
The minister also said the Urban Development Di-rectorate (UDD) has un-dertaken its first nearly 10-year plan, initially focusing on metropolitan cities.
Later, master plans will be prepared for major cities and eventually at the upazila level, he said.
Policymakers, planners, engineers, developers and representatives from government and private organizations attended the conclave.
