Residents of Dhaka’s Kamrangirchar have questioned a development project to turn the area into a business hub, undertaken by the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), since the project will displace nearly two million people.
Speaking at a roundtable at the National Press Club on Friday under the banner of Kamrangirchar Citizens Parishad, they said it is the duty of the city corporation to perform service work.
Instead of doing that, they said, the DSCC wants to evict nearly two million residents and make it a business hub under the “Central Business District (CBD) Development Project, to be constructed by acquiring 1,200 acres of land and spending Tk200 crore.
The speakers said they learned about the project when DSCC Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh announced it during an event at Kamrangirchar on October 11 last year.
The DSCC’s plans also include the 50-storey Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Convention Centre, being built at a cost of Tk249 crore. It will house a five-star hotel and a mega shopping mall.
There are more than 20,000 buildings in this area, the speakers said, adding that the project was undertaken without informing the residents.
SM Mawla Reza, member secretary of the platform, moderated the roundtable while its coordinator, Hassan Ahmed, presented the keynote. Several other guests named in the list, including architect Iqbal Habib, urban planner Adil Mohammed Khan, and Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) General Secretary Alamgir Kabir, did not join the roundtable.
Ekushey Padak-winning poet Nirmalendu Goon, the chief guest at the event, could not attend due to illness. In a video message, he urged officials concerned to withdraw the project. They have misguided the prime minister. Earlier, the people protested an anti-public interest project at Arial Beel. Later, it was cancelled.
According to the DSCC, the CBD project and the convention centre have been initiated to meet the current contextual demand and future needs to help achieve "Vision 2041.” The DSCC plans to implement the project in 10 years.
