Chattogram Bureau :
Chattogram District Administration has recently announced plans to remove almost 350 structures from Fairy’s Hill in Chattogram, including five buildings constructed for lawyers’ chambers, as these risky buildings can cause major accidents at any time.
The lawyers and the administration were at loggerheads over the construction of the bar buildings recently. The district administration considers the construction plan risky while the bar association claims to have the required approval.
A study by the Fire Service and Civil Defence and the Department of Environment found that the construction of these risky illegal installations could lead to catastrophic human tragedies as a result of natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides.
“At present, there are some government offices, including that of the deputy commissioner and divisional commissioner, on the hill. Five buildings have been constructed on the hillside for the lawyers’ chambers on the hill, occupying khas land and the land of the district administration.
Therefore, the district administration has already made a list of illegal establishments and has prepared to evict those,” Chattogram Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mohammad Mominur Rahman told the media recently.
Recently, the lawyers’ association took initiative to construct two more new buildings next to the existing ones, but the district administration objected to the construction. The district administration also issued a warning notice through the media on 2 August declaring the buildings as risky and illegal, he added.The hilltop court building was established 130 years ago. Now the hill houses the new court building, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrates’ Court, five buildings belonging to the lawyers, and also the offices of the divisional and deputy commissioners to meet the growing demand for lawyers’ chambers, Chattogram Bar Association moved to construct the two new structures next to their main building.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has rejected the attempt to construct two new buildings in the historic Fairy’s Hill without the approval of the district administration. At the same time, the prime minister has instructed not to build new installations on the hill.
On the other hand, Department of Archeology has formed a three-member committee to declare the city’s Parir Pahar (Court Building) a protected antiquities. Tuesday (September 21), Director General of the Department of Archeology, Ministry of Culture said. This information was given in the notification signed by Ataur Rahman.
A committee comprising the following three officials was formed on Saturday last to inspect the Parir Pahar site in Chittagong district to verify the possibility of gazetting it as a preserved antiquity. Deputy Director of the Department of Archeology in the committee Amiruzzaman has been made convener, regional director AKM Saifur Rahman has been made member and assistant architect Khandaker Mahfuz Alam has been made member secretary.
