‘July Memorial Park’ inaugurated.
The July Memorial Park of the city has been opened to all. The park was inaugurated yesterday morning by the interim government’s Industry, Housing and Public Works Advisor Adilur Rahman Khan. City Mayor Shahadat Hossain, Deputy Commissioner Farida Khanam and other officials of the Public Works Department were present at the time. The Public Works Department renovated the park under the ‘Development of a UN Green Park with Modern Facilities in Panchlaish Residential Areas’ project at a cost of Tk 12.65 crore. Though it was named earlier as ‘United Nations Park’, the name is changed to ‘July Memorial Park’.
After the inauguration, Adilur Rahman Khan told reporters that we are creating a memorial in memory of those who were martyred in the July Uprising. So that the whole countrymen and the upcoming generation will be able to know their contribution. This initiative is to remember those who fought against injustice for 16 years and those who protested against fascism. We came here so that our next generation can always remember it.
Answering to a question, the adviser said, there will be no debate about martyrs. Martyrs are martyrs. The list of martyrs will be given. It is our responsibility to honour the martyrs. The mayor will do the work of making the Chittagong Central Shaheed Minar visible. An underpass is also needed.
He said, “The park is for everybody, not for any group to utilise. We are trying to keep it clean and maintain the law and order so that people could go there. InshaAllah, it will be materialised with all cooperation.” He said, “One major problem here is the waterlogging of Chittagong. This is before our eyes. Efforts are being made so that people get rid of the waterlogging. The may-or, CDA, DC all are trying jointly.
Panchlaishe is a traditional park; we once knew it as the United Nations Park. My childhood was here. It has been arranged aesthetically. I think this is the responsibility of the CHC, CDO, and the district administration. Once, coordination was missing. Now, we are working together. We want to decorate Chittagong together. Whatever we can, will do for the people. We want to make Patenga an international tourist center, and it is a time-consuming affair. And we believe if we work through coordination that we have here, we are hopeful that we can have a clean and green Chittagong.
The Deputy Commissioner Farida Khanam said, “The government is working to convey the spirit with which the nine brave martyrs of Chittagong laid down their lives in this July uprising and wrote a new democratic history to the next generation. This effort will continue. We will rescue the parks that are under the control of illegal occupants. Already, we have saved 194 acres of DC Park from drug dens. Patenga had lost its beauty in the middle. A combined effort by the CDA, City Corporation or district administration is going on to restore that beauty.
It is learnt that the UN Park is located on 2.27 acres of land. In 1954, the Ministry of Public Works allocated the Panchlaish residential area. At that time, the park was in the layout. In 1988, the Public Works Department gave the responsibility of renovating and managing this park to the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC). At that time, it was known as ‘Panchlaish Park’. In 2002, CCC changed its name to UN Park.
Greenery has become predominant in the newly built park. There is a beautiful boundary wall and entrance. Other infrastructural developments including walkways have been made. The newly built park has seating, sports equipment for children, and horizontal bars and metal pergolas for physical exercise. There are toilet blocks, drains, dustbins, compound lights, street lights, pump motors, lightning arresters. Trees and grass have been planted in the park.
It is known that this park once won the hearts of entertainment lovers, including children and teenagers, as a tourist attraction. However, with each passing day, pressures of negligence and carelessness wore down the park, and thus, its charm was lost. It almost reached an abandoned state. A pond in the park also became unusable. Then, on 3 December 2012, the then Mayor M. Manjur Alam laid the foundation stone for a swimming pool in a part of the park. Two pools and a gymnasium costing 39.4 million that were completed in June 2015, have been demolished to redecorate the park. Previously, at the time of constructing the swimming pool, it had been announced by the CHC that the open part of the park also would be decorated. An aesthetically pleasing entertainment park would be built. That was not, however, done. The park had thus practically been a deserted area since the construction of CHC’s swimming pool in 2012 took up the land. With a new buildup, it is slowly gaining life back after a decade.
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