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Let the DAP be implemented in full

No compromise on its essential details, please!
THE good news is that we now have before us a gazette notification approving the detailed area plan (DAP) for the nation's capital. We are convinced that if and when the plan is implemented, citizens will derive unadulterated advantage from it. This we say with a caveat, though. The minister of state for housing and public works, who was vocal about dealing sternly with land grabbers only the other day, now appears to have taken a step backward. The government, he now says, will adopt a soft stance regarding DAP in certain instances. He also informs us that the authorities might have to accept violations of land-related laws where necessary. Such statements on the part of a functionary of the state cannot but cause grave worries, especially when we are all faced with the reality of how Dhaka has been losing its appeal and indeed its character over the years because of the exploitative way in which it has been' developed'.
There is little question that the capital, which is engaged in an observance of its 400th anniversary, is in need of breathing space. We as citizens of Dhaka and with us everyone else in regions outside Dhaka have long felt that in order to be made habitable and modern, the city is in need of strategic planning on the part of the authorities. To our mind, a move toward such action has now been manifested in the DAP. The steps proposed in it by the group of experts assigned to formulate the plan are surely a reflection of citizens' concerns about the welfare of the city. A relocation of toxic and heavy industries away from Dhaka, together with a restoration of flood flow zones through reclaiming them from housing projects as well as other rehabilitation-oriented steps are praiseworthy. We believe that such a plan will be instrumental in neutralizing the entrenched problems Dhaka has for decades suffered from. The solution to these problems, be it noted, must come from within. They will not come from an unbridled expansion of the city outward.
Which is why it is critically important that the DAP be implemented in full. It is our considered opinion, one we share with the larger body of citizens, that giving any kind of space to those who have contributed to the deterioration of the physical features of the city will most surely defeat the purpose of the DAP A softly-softly approach may in effect lay the entire exercise waste. Such a position, if not discarded right now, can only be seen as compromising before those who have illegally grabbed land in and around the city and who, in these past few weeks, have been intimidating the government on the issue. The point is simple, clear and without ambiguity: reclaiming Dhaka from the robber barons who have long feasted on it is a job the authorities must not shy away from.
We strongly urge the government to put in place the machinery responsible for a judicious and swift implementation of the DAP. The machinery must include the relevant agencies as well as the experts who have formulated the DAP, for it is the latter who can constantly monitor the working out of the plan. Let there be a time frame within which the recommendations of the DAP will be fulfilled.
In recent times, environmentalists, the judiciary and broad civil society have all been vocal about a need to preserve the landscape in Dhaka and elsewhere. Let that concern not be marred by any lenient approach toward any quarter whatsoever.