‘About 1,000 trees will be planted in Suhrawardy Udyan’

An initiative has been taken to plant about 1,000 trees in Suhrawardy Udyan as part of the implementation of the master plan to preserve the memory of the liberation war.

Dhaka Suhrawardy Udyan Independence Monument Construction (Phase III) Project Director and Joint Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh, Md Habibul Islam, told media about this on Saturday.

"Shikha Chirantan, the Independence Monument and the Underground Liberation War Museum have already been constructed at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan under the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs to present the true history of the Great Liberation War to future generations and the world," he said.

He added that a master plan, "Construction of Independence Monument at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka" (Phase III), and building Dhaka as a modern city with an international level green atmosphere to attract domestic and foreign tourists are being implemented to preserve the correct history of the great liberation war in Suhrawardy Udyan.

"Suhrawardy Udyan is not suitable to roam around for a family at present. There are a lot of vagabonds and people with ill motives in the park. We want to make the whole park an international standard one through a master plan," he said.

He added that the construction of a sculpture on 23 years of the liberation struggle and the nine months' history of the liberation war against the Pakistani regime, a Bangabandhu sculpture where he gave his historic speech on 7 March, a sculpture where the Pakistani aggressors surrendered, the construction of an Indira Mancha, a waterbody, and the construction of a car park and children's park, are underway.

Habibul Islam said that various media have published partial information about these projects and the felling of trees, which has created confusion among people. About 1,000 trees will be planted in the coming monsoon season. The tree planting has been carefully planned so that people who visit the park get a very good environment.

Saying that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman created the park by planting the first tree on the racecourse grounds, he said that Ziaur Rahman illegally became the president and built a children's park in 15 acres of the park in 1979 to erase the memory of the historic 7 March speech and the surrender of the Pakistani invaders. Why did environmentalists not question then?

"One thing that is being said over and over again is that food stalls are being built here. There will be no bread or rice shop here. A person may get tired of visiting the park and see the various installations here and he may get a little thirsty or need toilet facilities. Then he can sit in a place and rest. So, seven 'food kiosks' will be set up in the entire park with water and light snacks. There will be separate toilet facilities for men and women at the back."