Expressway vs environment: The battle over Panthakunja park and Hatirjheel

When I asked some of my younger colleagues what was happening in Panthakunja, they asked back,  "What is Panthakunja?"

Makes sense. The once-beautiful park near the Karwan Bazar intersection has been fenced off from the eyes of the public for many years. Although the young men regularly commuted using the very road, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, travelling past the park, they never had a chance to see it. 

In other words, the authorities have successfully obliterated the park from public memory.

A very recent visit to the park revealed that the entrance to its northern part, where trees are still standing, is now closed off with a huge grilled gate. Inside, it looks normal, just like a usual city park. On the south and western sides of the park, fenced with metal sheets, there is a gate, wide open.

There are slogans written everywhere, and inside are a few tents surrounding a huge boring machine, which looks like it has been abandoned mid-operation. The tents have been pitched by environmental activists who put a stop to logging operations in the park last month and have been guarding the park since. 

This part of the five-acre park, roughly two-thirds of its total area, has been cleared of plants, and there are huge holes in the ground, where piles have been constructed to erect the piers of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway project.

The expressway project, in its revised design to connect Old Dhaka, has planned to take up some parts of the Hatirjheel lake and Panthajunja park.

Initially, the proposed new branch alignment around Sonargaon Hotel was very aggressive, with 19 piers as well as a 'central control building' and other facilities on the park premises. The plan was later revised leaving out the facilities and reducing the pier number to 15, still taking up a significant portion of the open space.

While the Awami League regime ignored the outcry, after the July uprising, the activists seem to have found reinvigorated spirit to lodge protests. Panthakunja regained public attention last month when environmental activists stopped the construction work of the Elevated Expressway Project inside the park and called for scrapping the plans that led to the partial encroachment of the park.

Activists and experts agree that not only will the construction damage the environment, but also the expressway ramps will create new traffic congestion in the area, making the already bad situation worse. 

Beside the Hatirjheel lake near BIAM School, we met two of the activists earlier this week, Nayon Sorkar and Bulbul Islam, who were writing slogans like 'Save Hatirjheel' on the fence erected beside the lake. Inside the fence are piers of the expressway ramp, built on the precious waterbody. Just a few metres away was the controversial BGMEA Complex, illegally built on the encroached land of Hatirjheel, demolished in 2020 after more than a decade of movement and legal battles.

Ironically, the same land has now been encroached on by the expressway project.

"We cannot lose Hatirjheel to any project. Besides, Kathalbagan is a very densely populated area, devoid of greenery and open spaces. There are no other fields or parks in the area," said Nayon.

"They have felled around 2,000 trees of 40 species in the park. It has been turned into a desert. Local people have also come to express solidarity with us, they want these open spaces to be protected," he added.

In May 2023, the Dhaka Elevated Expressway authorities started earth-filling a part of the lake, ignoring urban planners' and architects' warnings that this threatened the waterbody and put the surrounding areas at risk of waterlogging.

The Department of Environment and Rajuk were supposed to safeguard the water body but remained largely silent on the issue. However, Rajuk officials at that time said at least 41 pillars of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway would be in the Hatirjheel lake area, which would also spoil its beauty.

This branch was not even in the original design but was added later, drawing criticism from experts.

But nothing could stop the construction, leading to the destruction of Panthakunja park.

When contacted on 14 December after protests erupted at the park, Abu Humayan Md Shakhawat Aktar, director of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway Project, told TBS at the time that only a small area on one side of the park is being used for the elevated expressway.

"A few pillars will be placed in the park for the expressway ramp, the work on which is almost complete. Our aim is to protect the beauty and greenery of the park," Aktar added.

Amirul Rajiv, convener of the Bangladesh Tree Protection Movement, ‍said there were a number of decades-old trees in the park which have been logged.

"There was a giant 50-year-old teak chambal tree here. When it was cut down, people of the area were agitated," Rajiv said, who is also participating in the sit-in.

"There was a diverse range of plants in the park, creating a jungle-like vibe. Although you can see a lot of exotic plants such as mahogany and acacia now, the place was a rich habitat for birds," the activist added.

Indeed, we could not help but notice a large kite sitting on a coconut tree branch, with a couple of others circling the place in the sky. Rajiv said many birds were visibly upset about losing their shelter in the last spate of tree-felling in December last year.

Photo: Rajib dhar

Before the expressway work began, the Dhaka South City Corporation had enclosed the park for years, citing beautification efforts, during which trees were reportedly removed. Interestingly, Dhaka South also protested the construction of the expressway ramp inside the park, according to an earlier TBS report.

However, the corporation has built a huge STS (secondary garbage transfer station) and a public toilet in the park area. Also, Wasa has taken up some area in the park for a pump and Drinkwell, a private company, has been operating one of their water ATM booths there. The 'Unilever Tower,' constructed much earlier, also ate up some space for greenery. 

This portrays how the five-acre open space has been up for encroachment by whoever wanted it.

On 23 December, Road Transport and Bridges Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan and Industries Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan visited the protesters in the park but did not offer any solution.

The park needs to be protected for many reasons, Rajiv said. "If there is an earthquake or fire incident, where would people go if the only open space in the area is gone?"

"There should be a water reservoir in this place so in case of a fire, firefighters can get water from it to douse the fire," Rajiv continued, adding, "Children of the area have no other place to play in."

Many concrete structures have already been built in Hatirjheel lake and the park. Should they be removed? "If the government deems it possible, of course," replied architect Iqbal Habib, vice-president of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon.

"Dhaka Elevated Expressway project is a totally unacceptable project from the point of view of inclusion and accessibility of the masses to the project. It deserves the least priority. This project has killed or limited the opportunity of vertical and lateral expansion of the railway as the expressway has passed over the rail tracks," the architect added.

Iqbal Habib opined that the government, in the changed circumstances, should reevaluate the contract and implement the project only after mitigating the environmental and ecological impacts as much as possible.

"The added branch of the project — aiming to connect with Old Dhaka — which is poised to destroy Panthakunja and Hatirjheel, should be cancelled if possible," he suggested.

"Dhaka does not have many parks like Panthakunja. The park has been neglected for a long time. Dhaka South City Corporation built STS and public toilets in the park, ignoring the original design, and ruined the place by planting a large number of acacia and eucalyptus," Iqbal Habib noted.

The architect equated the park with the lungs of a living being and stressed the need for preserving it along with Hatirjheel and reopening the place for the public by reevaluating the expressway project.

The Dhaka Elevated Expressway is a public-private partnership (PPP) project implemented by Chinese contractors China Shandong International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group and Sinohydro Corporation. 

The 19.73 km expressway project — aimed at connecting Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport with the Dhaka-Chattogram highway — commenced in 2011 but was delayed by several factors including a dispute between the majority shareholder, Thailand-based Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited (Ital-Thai), which owned 51% of the project, and the two Chinese companies. Ital-Thai later transferred its shares to the two Chinese companies and the work resumed.

The extended part of the project faces the latest standstill stemming from the environmental activists barring the work inside the park.