Overshooting the height ceilings set for high-rise buildings has been going on for years. It is more pronounced in certain areas than in others. The violations in most cases involve commercial buildings. Without exception, whenever the landowner and the developer involved in the construction work are questioned, they respond by saying that they have had the permission of RAJUK, the government agency responsible for overseeing the implementation of the restriction. Day by day, the problem is getting more and more complicated. No less than the minister in charge of public housing himself said the other day, that "corruption" amongst the officials concerned was the problem. It is indeed shockingly revealing that some retired officials were detected to have been providing backdated approvals. We find it rather absurd that authorities of the government are aware of the problem and have also identified individuals and the organisation responsible for flagrant violations of building codes, yet no one is made accountable for lapses. The problem is further complicated due to the ambiguity of existing laws making it easier for the perpetrators to wriggle out of the offence.Additional buildings with additional heights mean more people, more vehicles, creating problems for the already ever-growing population. More than most of the high-rise buildings either have no parking facilities or if any, it is simply inadequate. On top of it some owners are even renting out whatever specified parking areas are there. High-rise buildings are posing a threat to existing capacities of our sewerage systems. It is also bound to have a severe impact on our already burdened water supply network. The level of our ground water has already plummeted due to excessive drawing of water for household uses.
As it is, the overall state of the high-rise buildings is a major threat to our existing civic amenities as well as to our environment not just for now but for our future generations, too. We wish to see some real actions on the ground by the administration.
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