Housing and Public Works Minister RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury disclosed a staggering reality in Parliament on Wednesday—Dhaka city is home to more than 6,000 abandoned houses. Responding to independent lawmaker Muhammad Saiful Islam (Dhaka-19), the minister shared that the capital houses a total of 6,372 deserted properties.
Mirpur takes the lead with 3,582 abandoned houses, followed by Mohammadpur with 1,542. The distribution extends to various neighborhoods, including 128 in Gulshan, 9 in Banani, 62 in Moghbazar, 36 in Tejgaon, and others scattered across different areas.
Remarkably, some of these abandoned structures have found alternative uses—20 are now educational institutes, and 4 serve as construction firms. The minister outlined the government’s strategy, utilizing reserved abandoned houses for constructing residential flats allocated on a rental basis to officers/employees.
Moreover, saleable abandoned houses are being sold with permissions from the prime minister, benefiting individuals, institutions, families of martyr freedom fighters, war-wounded freedom fighters, and allottees. Over the past three financial years, Dhaka city has generated Tk12.68 crore in rents from abandoned houses and Tk2.31 crore from sale values.
The revelation sheds light on the city’s housing crisis, prompting the need for strategic solutions to address the abundance of abandoned properties.
