Biplob Udyan, once a beautiful park in the middle of the port city, has now turned into a business hub with dozens of food stalls occupying the ground.

Locals and environmentalists say the park has been ruined in the name of modernisation, which started around six years ago.

Since then, the green park has been reduced to a barren land, where businesses have flourished in full swing.

Biplob Udyan was once a most sought-after place for city dwellers. Founded in 1979 on an area of about two acres, the park lies in the heart of the city at the Sholashahar Gate Number 2 intersection.

Photo: Collected

The people of the city used to visit the park for a breath of fresh air. Back then the park had a garden, a small pond full of fish, benches, and a wide walkway encircling the park.

However, within 6 years the lush greenery has vanished and has been replaced by a miniature food court.

During a recent visit, The Daily Star found that the park was now a barren field with some 25 eateries abuzz with diners.

Only a handful of visitors were sitting on a bench adjacent to the footpaths.

One of them, Mohammad Ismail, a resident of the Cosmopolitan area, said, "There are just a handful of parks in Chattogram where people have free access and Biplob Udyan is one of them."

"I don't understand what the authorities were thinking. The park has been ruined in the name of modernisation," he said.

According to sources, the fateful modernisation of the park started on November 1, 2018, when the Chattogram City Corporation, its custodian, signed a contract with two private companies to develop it. The contract was signed during the tenure of former mayor AJM Nasir Uddin.

The companies quickly built shops and stalls and rented them out for a huge sum, said CCC sources.

However, the development work never began, they said.

On August 22 last year, the CCC revised the old agreement and signed a new one to reconstruct the park in a bid to bring back its former glory.

The contractor also started building structures in the park defying concerns of members of civil societies and rights activists.

The CCC authorities, under former mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, couldn't care less, said sources.

The Election Tribunal in Chattogram on October 1 declared BNP's former city unit president Shahadat Hossain as the mayor.

Taking charge on November 5, Shahadat declared that no further commercial establishments would be allowed in the park.

Contacted, Shahadat promised a green park for the port city dwellers.

"We are working on it," said the CCC mayor.