Recast policy redefines compensation to landowners in Dhaka

A major policy change in land acquisition envisages abolishing compensation to the city landowners and instead encouraging them to get engaged in the development activities with revised property rights staying within respective areas.

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkhya (RAJUK) has made the move to amend its own regulatory act -the Town Improvement Act 1953--for accommodating the new concept following successful implementation of transit-oriented development (ToD) and township in different countries, including Japan, Germany, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand.

Officials say the new scheme, which is now in draft stage will help real landowners hold their property rights in new form as they can stay within the areas for living ancestrally and contribute to the redevelopment of the areas, both by contributing portion of land and self- financing mechanism.

"It will also help the government lessen its huge budget spent on acquiring land at higher price," says one official.

According to RAJUK, the TIA has been modified and changed based on two rights conversion - land readjustment and land redevelopment. Implementation of the proposed initiatives will be applied to two ToDs in Gabtoli and Uttara Central Station area. Gabtoli will serve as a station for both MRT-5 North and MRT-5 South lines.

The capital-city developer in partnership with other government agencies, including Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), has already made a move to implement the two ToDs under separate projects.

Recently, the city planner, RAJUK, has also shared the right-conversation policy with stakeholders to get the feedback through disclosing its adaptation in Indonesia, Thailand, Bhutan, Nepal, and Gujarat and Delhi of India, Turkey, Taiwan, South Korea, Sweden and Brazil, among other countries.

"Not only the scheme has been successfully implemented in Japan and Germany, the RAJUK considers it suitable in the congested and built-up Dhaka city for rebuilding," says City Planner Mahfuja Akter.

She, however, says RAJUK and other government agencies would play the role of implementer in the projects through clear and transparent guidelines and after discussion, consultation and agreement by the landowners. Various models like public-private partnership would be developed to rebuild the areas centering the metro stations.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under a grant project titled 'Project for Development Policy and Guidelines for ToD along Mass Transit Corridor' supports the RAJUK to formulate necessary policies, studies and guidelines aiming to replot existing property rights to developed property, based on landowners' intention.

The gazette on the ToD was already published in May last. The RAJUK Ordinance 2025 is now under discussion while the first draft of Rules for Rights Conversion and draft of Technical Guideline have been prepared under the project.

The City Planner says RAJUK has also done firsthand study in Gabtoli's ToD area and found support from 50 per cent of inhabitants as it would not displace them from the locality and may get social and financial benefits from the redevelopment plan.

The ToD at Uttara Central Station would not need such study as 40 acres land has already been owned by the DMTCL and RAJUK following the Acquisition and Requisition of Immovable Property Act 2017.

ToD is a popular concept to build a city area usually a short walking distance, usually 10-minute walking zone of mass-transit system, including MRT, BRT, metro shopping centre, high-capacity bus routes.

It also focuses on maximum use of residential, business and leisure spaces covering approximately 400 metres or more radius of the transit station.

The ToD has been successful due to development of an area from environmental sustainability, economic benefit, lower transportation costs for its link with mass-transit services, walking and bicycling along with economic, social and lifestyle benefits.

smunima@yahoo.com