Shawdesh desk:

#Govt, pvt housing, others specific to get FAR facility

#Plot exceeding 6 katha to enjoy 0.25 FAR, 10 katha 0.50 FAR

#Gezette to be published this month

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha has updated Detailed Area Plan (DAP) extending floor area ratio (FAR) in housing projects over six kathas enabling realtors to increase height of their buildings than before.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already approved the summary of the revised DAP to address the issues of the unplanned areas and block-based housing. The government will issue gazette regarding the amendment within this month.

Professionals and stakeholders applied to the Ministry of Housing and Public Works for review of the floor area ratio issue after the initial DAP gazette last year.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved the summary of that meeting on July 20. The development came in a follow-up to review meetings on March 22 with State Minister Sharif Ahmed and Rajuk Chairman Anisur Rahman Miah on May 18.

The revised DAP has 11 amendments including an incentive of 0.25 to the FAR in building construction over six kathas land in government and Rajuk approved private housing projects for the next three years. The ratio will be increased by 0.50 for project over ten kathas land.

The rationale is that these residential areas have been developed in a planned manner. At the same time incentives have been given as civic amenities more than densely populated areas. Apart from this, it has been proposed to increase the fare facility in unplanned areas like Badda, Demra, Khilkhet, Uttarkhan, Dakshinkhan, Rayerbazar, Savar, Keraniganj.

Similarly, the landowners will get 20 percent incentive for blocks of 1 to 6 bigha and 30 percent for blocks of more than 15 bighas in the case of block-based development. This will increase the height or width of the new building compared to the previous one. In the case of block-based development, some other issues have been kept in the revised DAP.

For example, 40 percent of the total land area of the block should be preserved as open space (parks, playgrounds, green lands). At least 50 percent of the reserved land must be contiguous. The maximum land cover should be calculated on 80 percent of the total area of the block, according to the newly amended DAP.

Regarding area-wise dueling units (number of flats), dueling units available for single or joint plot-based housing may be increased from 15 percent to 30 percent.

About the amendment, DAP Project Director Ashraful Islam said the State Minister for Housing and Public Works reviewed the recommendations from realtors, representatives, professional organisations and other stakeholders.

He said the revised DAP has not given priority to any individual; an attempt has been made to bring an equality within the entire Dhaka city.

“Even if the roads were left in the residential areas, the local government institutions were not informed. Now it has been implemented. At the same time, block-based housing has been encouraged. The DAP has been revised with environmental considerations in mind. People go from small plots to big ones. When people move to big blots, there would be created space for green,” added Ashraful.

The official also said DAP will be reviewed every three years. During the next review, revisions will be made considering the context and circumstances.

Housing and Public Works Secretary Kazi Wasi Uddin said the benefit of FAR in building construction has slightly increased in accordance with the recommendations from stakeholders.

“In other cases there is no change. The revised DAP is fully up-to-date. Now this DAP has been vetted by the Ministry of Law which will be finalised by Rajuk. Hope it will be gazetted within this month,” he said.

Ministry officials say many businessmen have signed contracts for construction of buildings before DAP was gazetted. They didn’t know that after the gazette, the benefits of FAR will be reduced. At the same time they were not given a specific time after the gazette.

DAP has been revised due to these reasons. Incidentally, Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) was made in 1995 according to the master plan taken by the government in 1992 while step was taken to formulate DAP in 1996.

Ministry of Housing and Public Works published DAP in the form of gazette on July 22, 2010. Then in 2013, the DAP review process started again. DAP was gazetted again for 13 years in 2022 (2022-2035).