As reported by this daily on Friday, the government has undertaken a mega project - ‘Dhaka City Master Plan’ aimed at rejuvenating the capital and making it more modern and natural and man-made disasters such as earthquake and fire accident by implementing a series of well-designed plans.
The proposed plans recommend having adequate spaces between buildings which will allow emergency rescue operations, especially during fire incidents.According to the proposed design of the master plan, no unplanned and unauthorised installations would be allowed in the capital from now on.
Dhaka is becoming more and more vulnerable to both natural and man-made hazards as rapid urbanisation is the villain of the piece. Devastating fire accidents and building collapse have become almost common phenomenan in Dhaka as the growth of our beloved capital city has taken place without adequate planning. Considering Dhaka's vulnerabilities to urban hazards, a master plan to make the metropolis more resilient to urban disasters was indispensable. Therefore, we welcome the government's latest mega project ‘Dhaka City Master Plan’ and hope, it will help our city planners make Dhaka safer in the long run.
Approaches need to be ensured in policies,
regulations and plans to reduce urban risk that
will make Dhaka more resilient to
urban-hazards in the long run
Dhaka is characterised by the poor living standards, building construction without consideration of safety measures, lack of public awareness to hazards, and poorly enforced building code.
Many buildings are rising without proper zoning concept and guidelines as the city authorities allow poorly constructed buildings and old buildings to stay. These buildings are very much vulnerable to earthquake, fire hazards and other factors of building collapse causing unnecessary deaths. Besides the mentioned vulnerabilities, the urban habitants are living with increased risk of industrial hazards and health related risks.
In order to make Dhaka resilient to disaster risks, we must have a good control over the entire practice of design and construction of structures. Loss of human life and properties can considerably be reduced if the entire infrastructure system can be brought under a well-planned strategy. It is time for all the relevant authorities to work together under one umbrella to ensure a risk resilient infrastructure system. Also approaches need to be ensured in policies, regulations and plans to reduce urban risk that will make Dhaka more resilient to urban-hazards in the long run.