Many liigh-rise buildings in the city are being constructed without adequate parking space violating the Building Construction Act

Sources said the designs approved by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) are changed during construction of the buildings.

The monitoring cell of the Rajuk does not work properly to find the lawbreakers and take action against them, the sources alleged.

"Neither Rajuk officials nor the building owners bother to comply with the rules and keep adequate parking space in the high-rises," said an official in the Ministry of Housing and Public Works.

ASM Ismail, assistant chief of the Department of Architecture, said it is clearly mentioned in the law that what should be the ratio between the size of a building and its parking space.

The Building Construction Act, which was formulated in 1952 and । amended in 1996, says a commercial structure built on 200 square metres land requires at least 23 square metres parking space.

Rajuk has some 50 inspectors to monitor compliance with ruled and designs of the underconstruction buildings. But it is alleged that the building owners

change the approved designs bribing the inspectors.

Urban planners blame both the high-rise owners and the architects who design beautiful skyscrapers but ignore parking facilities.

"We have proposed a new building construction code to check the violation of rules under which the building owners will have to take occupancy certificate on completion of construction," Ismail said.

"Utility services will not be provided without this certificate," he added.

Silver Tower in Gulshan-1 is one of the newly built high-rises that does not have adequate parking space. The 19-storey building housing some 50 offices has basement-parking facilities for only 24 vehicles.

PBL Tower at Gulshan 2 circle houses many offices and a university. Although the university has rented out three floors, there is only one underground parking space and one more beside the building for all three floors.. If more parking space is required 2 the tenants would have to pay an £ extra rent for same, said an § insider.

$ The building constructed on 5,000 square metres should have parking space for at least 50 vehicles. The customers and clients of

the shops and offices in the building too need more space for parking.

MAH Selim, a BNP lawmaker and managing director of Silver line Group, the owner of Silver Tower, said, "We will provide space for two vehicles of each office in the building. If more space is required, we will build another parking lot to accommodate more vehicles."

"The plan of the building was approved in 1998 when the idea of enough parking facilities was not considered so important," he said admitting that the parking space of Silver Tbwer is inadequate.

A number of high-rise buildings and shopping malls have been constructed in the congested Gulshan-1 where the road-' side spaces and sidewalks are used as parking lots due to lack of parking spaces in most high-rises.

"We face trouble moving around the area as the footpaths are always occupied by vehicles parked illegally," said a resident of Gulshan. ’'High-rises are being built in this area one after another without properplans."

Rajuk Chairman Md Shahid ♦ Alam said full compliance of the existing rules regarding building construction and parking space would not be possible without greater public awareness about it.