More than five months on from the start of a sit-in programme against the construction of a Dhaka Elevated Expressway link road through the Panthakunja Park at Karwan Bazar in the capital Dhaka, conservationists are yet to receive any response from the authorities concerned regarding their demands.
The government鈥檚 silence seems puzzling, given that the interim government鈥檚 environment, forest and climate change adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, road transport and bridges adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan and industries adviser Adilur Rahman Khan met with the conservationists at the park on December 23 past year and expressed their willingness to hold more discussions with them over the issue within that year.
Since December 14, 2024, the conservationists under the banner of the聽 Bangladesh Tree Protection Movement began the sit-in programme demanding the park鈥檚 protection.
They also warned that the construction of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway link road would result in heavy environmental damage in densely populated areas like聽 Hatirpool, Kataban, Nilkhet and Plassey in the city.
With no response from the government, the conservationists announced a public hearing to be held at the park on May 30 on their demands, according a press release issued on May 21.
On May 5, the conservationists sent letters to the Chief Adviser鈥檚 Office, relevant ministries and departments, raising concerns over the project鈥檚 cost, design and lack of environmental clearance especially for work at the Panthakunja Park and Hatirjheel.
Bridges Division secretary Mohammad Abdur Rauf, also the executive director of the Bangladesh Bridge Authority, on May 14 told 抖阴精品 that related officials were reviewing the letter.
鈥楽ome concerns raised are valid from an environmental perspective, but others conflict with development priorities. Since this is a public-private partnership project involving foreign investors, we are carefully reviewing their opinions and legal implications,鈥� said Rauf.
He, however, said that the officials had no immediate plan for discussion with the conservationists.
With the aim of easing traffic congestion in the Dhaka city, the past government in 2011 initiated construction of the 46.73-kilometre elevated expressway stretching from the Dhaka鈥檚 Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Kutubkhali on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway. Initially the project consisted of a 19.73-km main elevated road and 27-km of ramps.
The project was revised in 2013 to include alignment changes, especially the extended FDC-to-Plassey link road, and the construction began in 2015 with an estimated cost of Tk 8,940 crore. Despite objections from the Dhaka South City Corporation, the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in a mass uprising in August past year, approved the link road in June 2023.
To implement the Dhaka Elevated Expressway, the Bangladesh Bridge Authority formed the First Dhaka Elevated Expressway Company under a public-private partnership. Italian-Thai Development holds 51 per cent of shares of the project, while two Chinese firms hold the remaining 49 per cent. The entities will transfer their ownership in the elevated expressway to the Bangladesh government after 25 years of operation.
The conservationists have strongly opposed the project鈥檚 FDC-Plassey link road, which they say has already destroyed part of Hatirjheel and led to the felling of about 2,000 trees in the Panthakunja Park in 2023-24. For the construction of the link road, 4.1 acres of the six-acre park are acquired.
Amirul Rajiv, the lead coordinator of the protest, warned that the project could worsen environmental degradation in congested areas like Hatirpool, Kataban, Nilkhet and Plassey, as a ramp is planned to cut through the Panthakunja Park near the SAARC Fountain crossing.
He stressed that the park, marked as green space in the Detailed Area Plan for Dhaka, is vital for public gatherings and disaster emergencies.
The High Court had earlier declared illegal a waste transfer station built inside the park, following a writ by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), and directed authorities to protect the space.
Activists reviewing Dhaka Elevated Expressway project documents claimed that the project鈥檚 environmental clearance expired in December 2023 and was never renewed.
鈥楳oreover, no clearance was ever sought for the construction of the expressway at Hatirjheel or Panthakunja, as confirmed by the Department of Environment,鈥� said Naim Ul Hassan, one of the conservationists.
According to the project document, the project鈥檚 cost Tk聽8,940 crore includes Tk聽2,413 crore in viability gap funding by the government.
However, another related project titled Support to Dhaka Elevated Expressway PPP Project with Tk 4,917.57 crore was taken with entirely public money.
Conservationists argue that Tk 7,330.57 crore, or 53 per cent of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway鈥檚 cost, comes from public funds, violating the 2018 viability gap funding rules that caps the funding at 40 per cent.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, also former BELA chief executive, said that Dhaka had a very few parks and they could not sacrifice a park for any purpose other than public use.
鈥楾he issue with Panthakunja is - it is an inherited problem. Neither the agreement nor the design was signed or endorsed by us. Having said this, I am hopeful the agency concerned will consider the demands of the conservationists with due importance and resolve the matter in a manner that public interest is duly protected and the Dhaka dwellers do not have to pay a very heavy price,鈥� she told 抖阴精品 on May 16.
Preferring anonymity, some Bangladesh Bridge Authority officials said that a possible revision of the link road design might consider cancelling the ramp from the SAARC Fountain crossing.
