Nizam Uddin Lavlu, Ramgarh :
Located on the banks of the river bordering Bangladesh and India, the ancient scenic Ramgarh subdivision administrator bungalow or SDO bungalow is located in a unique environment of nature near to Feni River. It is an indication of the hundred year history of Ramgarh. The memorial of the liberation war is also intertwined. In a word, the bungalow is now a witness of history as well as hope for tomorrow.
Until 1982-83, there was an administrative unit called ‘subdivision’ in Ramgarh. In 1920, the British government promoted Ramgarh Thana as the second subdivision of the then Chittagong Hill Tracts District (the district headquarters was Rangamati). About 1-2 years ago, the office and residence (bungalow) of the Sub-Divisional Administrator (SDO) was constructed at Ramgarh Thana Sadar (adjacent to the present Upazila Parishad) on the banks of Fenindi. The bungalow was built in a special design of construction in the British patron. The huge bungalow of 3,465 square feet is built in the style of a scaffolding house.
The Ramgarh SDO bungalow contains many memories of the war of independence. After the capture of Rangamati by the Pak army on 13 April 1971, the district headquarters of the Chittagong Hill Tracts was shifted from there to Ramgarh. The then DC HT Imam of Chittagong Hill Tracts used to stay in this SDO bungalow. From here till the fall of Ramgarh on 2 May ’71 he conducted administrative activities under the independent Bengal government. After the Kalurghat radio station in Chittagong was attacked by the Pak army, on April 3, 1971, the one kilowatt power transmitter of the radio station was brought to Ramgarh and placed in the SDO bungalow, from where the program of Swadhin Bangla Betar was broadcast. After the demotion of Ramgarh subdivision into an upazila in 1983, the subdivision administration was abolished. As a result, the ancient heritage SDO office and SDO bungalow were abandoned.
In the eighties, the old SDO office area was used as the headquarters of the then BDR (now BGB) battalion. The BDR captain used the SDO bungalow as his residence. In the late eighties, the battalion headquarters was shifted to Taichalapara. As a result, the old SDO bungalow and office building were abandoned again. A special BDR camp was set up at the SDO office in the late nineties. But the SDO bungalow remained abandoned. The traditional bungalow is damaged in various ways due to lack of maintenance while being abandoned. Meanwhile, the upazila administration has taken initiative to renovate and preserve the long one hundred and two year old SDO bungalow.
