Several environmental organisations yesterday demanded immediate cancellation of the construction of a car park in the Lalbagh Fort, built over 400 years ago when the Mughals founded Dhaka.
During a demonstration in front of the fort around 11am amid rains, some 16 environmental groups also demanded that the fort be restored to how it looked when part of its wall was not demolished.
The protesters called for punishment of those who were going to build the car park by destroying part of the ancient wall surrounding the fort.
The demolition was done in line with the archaeological authority’s plan to build the car park at a cost of Tk30 lakh.
Bangladesh Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba) Chairman Abu Naser Khan said during the protest the massive fort was now under the clutches of grabbers.
He said constructing a car park by destroying the original design of the fort was a clear violation of the Antiquities Act 1968. “The government says there is a fund crunch to protect this historic structure but the irony is that there is no shortage of funds when it comes to destroying it.”
“It was said that the car park was being constructed for the convenience of foreign tourists but such people are very much aware of how important it is to protect the heritage of a country,” one of the protesters said.
“The ulterior truth is that the car park is being built for benefitting a group of people who are touting it as a facility to be offered by the fort.”
The demonstrators said the car park’s construction was going on in defiance of a High Court ruling on cancellation of the illegal structure beside the fort.
Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon’s former general secretary Mohidul Hoque Khan, Work for Better Bangladesh Trust’s National Advocacy Officer Maruf Hossain, Green Mind Society President Amir Hossain, Councillor of Dhaka South City Corporation’s Ward 24 Hazi Aleya Parvin Ranzu joined the protest.