File photo Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune

The survey was conducted of a total of 204,106 buildings in 1528 square kilometres under Rajuk in Dhaka from January-July 2018, says the housing and public works minister

A little over 66% of the buildings in Dhaka were constructed illegally without following rules of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), says a survey.

Responding to a question from Jatiya Party lawmaker Rustam Ali Farazi, on Sunday, Housing and Public Works Minister SM Rejaul Karim made the disclosure in parliament, citing a 2018 Rajuk survey.

The survey was conducted of a total of 204,106 buildings in 1528 square kilometres under Rajuk in Dhaka from January-July 2018, said the minister. 134,925 buildings or 66.1% of them are faulty.

“Of the 195,376 buildings already constructed, problems were found with 131,583 buildings.

“Of the 8730 buildings under construction that were surveyed, designs of 3342 buildings were found to be faulty,” he said.

SM Rejaul Karim, on January 14 at a Rajuk review meeting of the Urban Resilience Project on earthquakes, had warned of tough action against illegal constructions.

“We will take strict legal action against illegally constructed buildings," he said in response to a question at the review meeting.

“Risky and uninhabitable buildings are being identified. Once the process is complete, we will move ahead [with demolition]," he added.

The minister further said the owners of unauthorized buildings will be asked to tear them down first, and the government will take legal measures and dismantle structures if the owners do not comply.

"Every building must be constructed in line with Rajuk's plan. Any building outside the plan will face action," he said. "Rajuk will have to strengthen its monitoring system in this regard."