A new breathing space for port city residents

With 3,000 trees of 41 different species, Bayezid Sabuj Udyan in the port city was inaugurated yesterday to provide a new green space to city dwellers.

Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, member of parliament and also chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on ministry of housing and public works, inaugurated the park at 11:55am.

The park has been built on 1.94 acres of land, owned by Public Works Department (PWD). The land was previously occupied by grabbers, who had set up shanties and rented those out.

After the project was approved in August 2017, PWD authorities evicted the illegal occupants from the place, said Jahedun Nabi Chowdhury, sub-divisional engineer of the department.

People can enter the park through two separate entrances to take a stroll on the 4,000 feet walkway. With a 3,000 square feet pool at the centre, two open galleries have been built around it.

There are 46 benches throughout the park. To keep the park clean, 20 trash cans have been installed at several points.

Two public toilets and a maintenance office have been built inside the park while children can play on seesaw and swing.

A master drain was excavated inside the park to keep rainwater from accumulating. To ensure security, the whole area has been brought under CCTV camera monitoring.

To give a dazzling view at night, 108 compound lights, 16 garden lights, and 55 fountain lights have been installed.

“Initial budget for this project was estimated at Tk 12 crore. But we managed to finish the work with Tk 8 crore and returned the surplus to the department,” said Nabi.

MP Mosharraf said this kind of green public spaces is truly necessary in all the cities, so that weary city dwellers have a place to walk, rest and recuperate.

Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin was chief guest at the event.