Yet another park lost to ‘development’

For its lush green ambience, Biplob Udyan used to be a much sought after recreational space for port city dwellers.

The park was built in 1979 on around two acres of land in Sholoshahar Gate-2 intersection with a planned garden, a small waterbody with fish, a walkway, and benches for people to sit.

Many city dwellers used to come to the park for walks, or just to get a breath of fresh air.

All of it is now lost in the name of development and modernisation under a project by Chattogram City Corporation (CCC), custodian of the park.

According to sources, on November 1, 2018, CCC signed a contract with two private companies to develop the park.

Soon afterwards, the companies built shops there to rent those out in exchange for a big sum of advance, while the project was not even initiated, said sources.

On August 22 last year, the CCC revised the old agreement and signed a new one to reconstruct the park and "reclaim its greenery".

According to the agreement, a 200 feet long steel and aluminium structure will be constructed on the east side of the park in the shape of the national flag, with a coffee shop, an exhibition centre, and a museum on the history of Chattogram and the Liberation War on its second floor.

There will be portraits of Bangabandhu alongside other noted personalities. The park will have a game zone. There will also be 25 digital screens, space for billboards or mega-signs, ATM booths, and kiosks.

The companies will construct and operate the structures and in return will pay a monthly rent to CCC for 20 years.

Visiting the park recently, this correspondent saw sand and construction materials piled up there while workers were busy constructing pillars and the basement of a structure.

The boundary wall around the park was removed. Only a few visitors were sitting on benches beside footpaths outside. The coffee shops and eateries built inside the park in 2018 were, however, seen crowded.

"Biplob Udyan is one of the only few parks in Chattogram city where people have free access to. I don't understand what the authorities are doing to it in the name of modernisation. It has lost all its grandeur," said Abdur Razzak, a resident of Nasirabad area who came to visit the park.

Dr Mahfuzur Rahman, convener of the Public Health Rights Protection Committee in Chattogram, said, "A public park should not be handed over to private entities, as they would always prefer to do business over providing public amenities."

Contacted, Aliur Rahman, networking member of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association in Chattogram, said they formed human chains protesting the CCC's move to build concrete structures in Biplob Udyan but the authorities did not pay any heed to their demands.

The CCC even did not seek permission from the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) to construct structures in the park.

As per law, no structure can be built in the city areas without CDA's permission. CCC authorities did not take permission from the CDA to construct structures in Biplob Udyan, which is a violation of law, said Hasan Bin Shams, chief engineer of CDA.

CCC mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, however, claimed they do not need permission from CDA or any other authority to construct structures in the city.

"Biplob Udyan was in ruins. Our project will reclaim its greenery while also beautifying it and extending facilities to visitors," he added.