3-member ministerial panel formed to modernize building laws

The government has formed a high-level three-member ministerial committee to review and modernise the country's decades-old building and urban development laws, aiming to strengthen regulations governing construction and planned urban growth in the capital.

A gazette notification issued recently by the Cabinet Division's Committee Affairs Branch said the panel has been tasked with reviewing the Building Construction Act, 1952 and the Town Improvement Act, 1953, and recommending necessary amendments to make the legal framework more effective and aligned with present-day urban development needs.

The committee will be chaired by the Home Minister, while Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md. Asaduzzaman and Housing and Public Works Minister Zakaria Taher will serve as members.

The Housing and Public Works Ministry has been assigned responsibility for providing secretarial support to the committee.

According to the notification, the committee will conduct a comprehensive review of the existing legislation and propose reforms to strengthen regulations on building construction, urban planning and development management, particularly in the Dhaka metropolitan area.

It has also been authorised to co-opt additional members, if necessary, and convene meetings as required to facilitate its work.

The committee's recommendations will serve as the basis for preparing draft amendments to the relevant laws and regulations, which will subsequently be placed before the Cabinet for consideration and approval.