Hasan Mahmud Rubel :
The Bahadur Shah Park in the old part of Dhaka city has been losing its charisma day by day due to lack of apposite maintenance. The park witnesses many historical events.
This park where the British Government hanged freedom fighters to death and kept the dead bodies hanging for quite a number of days.
Bahadur Shah Park was built in 1858 at the initiative of Nawab Khwaja Abdul Ghani. It was known as Victoria Park until 1947. After that, it has been renamed after Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor.
Most of its historic infrastructures are in dilapidated condition due to proper maintenance. Among them are Obelisk, which commemorates the ascending of the throne of Queen Victoria as Empress of India and British Empire, and the monument built in the honour of the martyrs of ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ (which was the first revolt against the
British rule in 1857). Even the boundary wall has collapsed. In addition, the apocryphal waterfall in the middle of the park has remained inoperative for a long time and the adjacent area is logged by water due to lack of proper drainage system.
Although, it has two separate toilets for men and women, they are now lying unused, not having water supply facilities.
It is learnt that illicit parking of private and public vehicles, dumping of industrial and household garbage and illegitimate occupation etc have made it almost impossible for the daily visitors and morning walkers to take rest and do exercise here.
The park now somehow maintains its existence with no initiative to preserve the heritage. The condition of the area is now terrible.
Toll collectors and vagabonds are dominating the area and are indulging in snatching. It is on the rise, stated Jasim Reza with the tone of melancholy, a local resident, who visits the park regularly for jogging.
Sujaul Islam Babu and Shamima Shanta have urged the Dhaka South City Corporation to restore its past.
There are many educational institutions around the park. These are Jagannath University, Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul College, Mohanagar Mohila College and Government Muslim High School, among others. At daytime, students of these institutions gather and gossip in the park area and many health conscious people come to the park for jogging and walking in the morning and in the afternoon. The park provides good opportunity to its visitors to look at the turbulent history of the nation. The park attracts some two thousand visitors everyday and frequently sets the scene for cultural and religious festivals.
A caretaker of the park anonymously stated that about 1500-2000 people used to promenade the park every day for strolling, exercising, breathing fresh air. But nowadays the number of the visitors are subsiding day by day for its unhealthy and lack of security.
Some of the visitors expressed their distress at the shocking milieu of the park. They also said that Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) should take initiative to protect the heritage of the park as soon as possible.
The Bahadur Shah Park in the old part of Dhaka city has been losing its charisma day by day due to lack of apposite maintenance. The park witnesses many historical events.
This park where the British Government hanged freedom fighters to death and kept the dead bodies hanging for quite a number of days.
Bahadur Shah Park was built in 1858 at the initiative of Nawab Khwaja Abdul Ghani. It was known as Victoria Park until 1947. After that, it has been renamed after Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor.
Most of its historic infrastructures are in dilapidated condition due to proper maintenance. Among them are Obelisk, which commemorates the ascending of the throne of Queen Victoria as Empress of India and British Empire, and the monument built in the honour of the martyrs of ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ (which was the first revolt against the
British rule in 1857). Even the boundary wall has collapsed. In addition, the apocryphal waterfall in the middle of the park has remained inoperative for a long time and the adjacent area is logged by water due to lack of proper drainage system.
Although, it has two separate toilets for men and women, they are now lying unused, not having water supply facilities.
It is learnt that illicit parking of private and public vehicles, dumping of industrial and household garbage and illegitimate occupation etc have made it almost impossible for the daily visitors and morning walkers to take rest and do exercise here.
The park now somehow maintains its existence with no initiative to preserve the heritage. The condition of the area is now terrible.
Toll collectors and vagabonds are dominating the area and are indulging in snatching. It is on the rise, stated Jasim Reza with the tone of melancholy, a local resident, who visits the park regularly for jogging.
Sujaul Islam Babu and Shamima Shanta have urged the Dhaka South City Corporation to restore its past.
There are many educational institutions around the park. These are Jagannath University, Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul College, Mohanagar Mohila College and Government Muslim High School, among others. At daytime, students of these institutions gather and gossip in the park area and many health conscious people come to the park for jogging and walking in the morning and in the afternoon. The park provides good opportunity to its visitors to look at the turbulent history of the nation. The park attracts some two thousand visitors everyday and frequently sets the scene for cultural and religious festivals.
A caretaker of the park anonymously stated that about 1500-2000 people used to promenade the park every day for strolling, exercising, breathing fresh air. But nowadays the number of the visitors are subsiding day by day for its unhealthy and lack of security.
Some of the visitors expressed their distress at the shocking milieu of the park. They also said that Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) should take initiative to protect the heritage of the park as soon as possible.
