***Let not one development, by one individual, to maximise profit, endanger the environment of any area and, in turn, of the city.***

TO control land and building development for orderly growth of settlements. some form of Development Control mechanism must exist within the Planning and Development process. Within our urban planning system, one form of control is the Master Plan, prepared for the cities of Dhaka and Chittagong in 1961, (Khulna has a more recent Plan - other towns do not have any). These plans, control (or try to control) the type of building in an area — according to usefulness. The other mechanism of control is the Building Rules, under the provisions of the Building Construction Act.

That the current Master Plans for Dhaka and Chittagong are obsolete and the whole process needs revolutionary change is evident. The process for change, after long many years, is on but slow and shrouded with uncertainty. This article, however, deals with the second mechanism for Development Control — the . Building Rules — and its impact on the environment, due to its inadequacy.

Essentially. Building Rules should deal with the structural safety of a building and the provision of services/amenities such as lighting, electrical installation. water, gas, drainage, sanitation, and ventilation. The concern of Building Rules, should relate to all factors within the envelope of a building. This includes, provision of adequate foundation and superstructure, appropriate use of materials, safe and adequate vertical movement within a building, such as specification; location: adequacy of stairs or elevators/ramps: fire, earthquake. lightening, protection and dampness control. It also includes sewer, sanitation, and power requirements, as the case may be.

Planning Rules as opposed to Building Rules should deal with the effects of any development — not only building development — on its surrounding en-

vironment. It is concerned with all aspects of any development outside the envelope of the building. Amongst other issues it deals with density control. Floor Area Ratio (FAR) or the Floor Space Index (FSI). mandatory open space (setback) requirement, and building height. Matters relating to the nature and volume of traffic a development generates, means of access to the site, landscaping and tree planting may also be considered. Besides control on building development. planning rules attempts to guide/control other actions on land (currently absent) such as land subdivision, land filling. hill cutting/razing, min-ing/quarrying and excavation, laying and altering roads etc.

In our system the Building and Planning Rules are one and the same, though the criteria by which these should be judged are completely different. As mentioned, one relates to the safety and services/amenities of/within the building, the other deals with the effect of any development on its surrounding environment.

The administration of the Building Rules rests with an Authorisation Committee appointed by the government. This Authorisation Committee is within the Development Authorities for the four cities and the Municipal Corporations for the towns. All proposed building development both private and public, must be approved by the Authorisation Committee, prior to construction. The application for a permit is accompanied by architectural plans, sections, elevations of the proposed building including its foundation details.

Other than some variation in the allocation of parking spaces, the Building Rules are uniform for the same type of

building all over the country, whether it is in the inner city of Dhaka or for some peripheral development in some small" towns. For residential buildings the mandatory building set- back space (mandatory open space) rule, around a building is the same for all sizes of plots over 4 kathas (2880 sq ft), irrespective of the density and building type (multi-unit multi-storied, or single/double occupancy residences).

This uniformity of rules fails to adequately safeguard the adverse environmental effects of large and complex, building development on its surroundings. One building such as Eastern Plaza on Sonargoan Road, can create havoc for the whole surrounding environment, even when built within the remits of the current law. Building Rules cannot be made very elaborate so as to overcome this situation.

Again the Building Rules do not control all actions on land. Thus roads are laid, altered with no imposition of any standards. large water bodies are filled, land is subdivided at will, leading to unplanned growth and causing adverse effects on the environment.

In the latest revision of the Building Rules in July 1996. attempts had been made to elaborate the Rules so as to include some planning controls. Due to the universality of its application and also as the effects of a proposed development it would vary according to the nature of development or locational factors; it would still be inadequate to achieve the desirable goals. It is not possible to include all the desired options in a Building code. Parking, dropping and" collection area will also vary according to the nature of occupancy and business conducted

even within similar building types. A universal standard cannot necessarily lake care of all these variation.

A very elaborate Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) was prepared in 1993. It contained both building and many planning issues. It did not come under the remits of law (probably being too elaborate to administer). Ideally all aspects of the effects of a building on its surrounding must be separated and administrated under a separate set of planning rules requiring permission prior to a building permit.

The reduction in mandatory open space, in the Building Rule 1996. for residential plots has created undesirable environmental effects in our cities particularly Dhaka, as it is having to face the brunt of building activity. Take the case of our planned residential areas with large plots sizes such as Dhan-mandi or Gulshan. Reduction in the mandatory open space from 33 per cent to less than half the amount, will have far reaching, adverse environmental effects. In the absence of neighborhood play lots and parks; children would have no space to run and play. They would remain cramped in their rooms throughout the day.

The narrow corridors left as mandatory' open spaces be tween boundary walls are being paved, this would result in 100 per cent » paved surfaces. If large areas are developed in such fashion it would lead to severe environmental problems. Flash flooding and stagnation of water would be more common after a heavy rainfall. Due lo lack of absorbing surface all surface water would have to be removed through drainage channels which would perhaps be unable to carry this kind of load if not designed likewise.

Large areas would be devoid of trees, air would always be laden with dust, as dust particles would have little or no soft surface to settle.

Recommendations:

• Government should take appropriate steps to separate building construction functions from planning functions and establish a planning set-up within the existing institutions or otherwise to administer the rules.

• For simplification of planning applications all proposed development may be categorised under a simple and a standard procedure to be followed. Simple application may undergo none or nominal control and may consist of buildings of say two stories, consisting of say below 1000sq.m. located in general urban development areas. Standard applications may consist of buildings I hat are larger in scale and more complex in nature or development located in special areas as designated in any Master Plans. (Procedure is detailed in the Metropolitan Master Plans 1995).

• The word "Development", must be defined so as to include all actions on. under, above land so that it comes under planning purview. Laying out of roads, filling and Cutting of earth, quarrying and mining operations may thus be submitted to planning guidelines and standards.

Control on action on land would reduce the ill effects of large-scale speculation on land in our urban fringes and rural areas. Hundreds of hectares of good agricultural land is continually being subdivided (as soon as a road is planned and laid) into plots for residential and other uses prior to its actual need. These subdivisions

are devoid of any planning guidance or standard. This practice blocks all avenues for future planned urban expansion. This must be stopped immediately. Where it has taken place, it must be put under planning control prior to building development.

• To make development more effective, the mechanism for seeking permission and enforcing control must be decentralised. One Rajuk or one CDA. or KDA cannot enforce control over wide areas and vast number of applications. Certain types of control may rest with the Central Body such as an industrial permit or large multi use development etc. Other types of developments may be controlled al a more local level, say at the ward level. Vigilance and supervision would be more easily achieved thus.

• While urgent steps should be taken to set up a planning mechanism, immediate steps should be taken to impose density control, re-establish the mandatory open space for residential buildings for larger sized plots, say 8 kathas and above to 33 per cent of the total plot area.

• Large and complex building developments must be put under elaborate scrutiny in the approval process so as to overcome the current inadequacies in the Building Rules.

The responsibility of professionals should not be confined to the limits of the Building Rules, particularly when it is deemed to be inadequate for large and complex developments. Planners, architects involved in the approval process could negotiate with developers in the interest of the city. After all the adverse effects harm us all. including the developers and policy makers. Let not one development, by one individual, to maximise profit, endanger the environment of any area .ind. in turn, of the city.

The writer is an urban planner architect