Bangladesh Secretariat to Move to Sher-e-Bangla Nagar by 2029

The government has approved a plan to move the Bangladesh Secretariat from Abdul Gani Road to Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. The new secretariat complex will rise on the site of the old trade fair ground. If implemented, the relocation of the heart of the country's administration will be one of the largest government infrastructure projects in recent decades.

The decision was taken on Sunday, 18 October, at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani announced the decision after the meeting. With that announcement, the long-discussed relocation plan formally cleared the approval stage.

The government's target is to have the new secretariat ready by 2029. The project has been included in the Annual Development Programme, known as the ADP. That inclusion opens the way for the work to proceed under the programme. Meeting the deadline will now be the major challenge.

The site earmarked for the new secretariat covers about 31.58 acres. Under the plan, 14 twelve-storey buildings will be built there, each with three basements. Together, the buildings are intended to form a well-planned administrative complex, according to the plan.

The new complex will have a total floor area of about 33.16 lakh square feet. Parking has been planned on a large scale, with space for 3,800 cars inside the buildings and a further 200 surface parking spaces. Compared with the congestion and parking crisis at the present secretariat, the arrangement could bring a notable change.

The list of facilities also includes a mosque, two multipurpose halls with a capacity of 350 each, a cafeteria and a post office. In other words, the new secretariat is being designed not just as office space but as a complete complex with daily necessities and venues for gatherings.

The environment has also been given importance in the plan. Thirty percent of the new complex will be kept for green space and water bodies. In such a large government complex, open greenery and water are expected to have a positive effect on the working environment.

The condition of the present secretariat is a major reason behind the decision. The current site on Abdul Gani Road covers 17.57 acres and has 13 buildings. Eight of them date from before independence. Buildings 1, 2, 3 and 8 were built between 1937 and 1939, while Building 5 was built in 1947.

Those old buildings are not earthquake-resistant, a fact that strengthens the case for moving. Rather than running the central offices of government from ageing, vulnerable buildings, the government sees shifting to a new and safer complex as the logical step.

Lack of space is no small problem either. The present secretariat has about 18.76 lakh square feet of office space. Around 10 lakh square feet more is needed. The new complex, at 33.16 lakh square feet, will meet that shortfall and leave room for future expansion.

Questions have also been raised about what will happen to the present site after the move. There has been discussion that the old site could house the Deputy Commissioner's office for old Dhaka and the subordinate courts. No final decision has been taken, however, so the future of the old premises will be settled later.

Overall, approval is only the start of a long implementation road. As an ADP project, every stage of design, construction and financing must be completed on time if the 2029 target is to be met. If implementation advances, the historic secretariat chapter on Abdul Gani Road will close and a new one will begin in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.