A legal notice has been sent to 10 persons including the mayor, land secretary, local government department secretary, environment secretary of Dhaka South City Corporation requesting to protect the historical Dhupkhola field located in Gandaria area of ​​old Dhaka. This notice was sent today on Sunday on behalf of seven private organizations including Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) and one person. Councilor of the ward.
The notice requested to preserve and maintain the ground as public interest ground. The notice requested to stop all activities of construction of the market started without permission and illegally and make the ground open for public.
Among the organizations and individuals who gave notices without bela are Bangladesh Environment Movement (Bapa), Navira Kari, Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD), Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), BLAST, Nagrik Udyog, GreenVoice and Architect Mobaswer Hossain. Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive lawyer of Bela on behalf of seven private companies and one individual, sent the notice through registry post.
In a notification, Bela said, the historic Dhupkhola ground with an area of ​​7.47 acres included in ward number 45 of Dhaka South City Corporation is the largest field in Dhaka city. Children and teenagers of seven thana areas of old Dhaka play sports in this field. In 2016, local residents held rallies and human chains to protest the initiative to build a commercial children’s park on the grounds. Dhaka South City Corporation authorities organized the public hearing under compulsion. In the face of public demand, the Dhaka South City Corporation authorities have backed away from the decision to build a commercial children’s park, but currently, the Dhaka South City Corporation has planned to build a playground with a gallery and a children’s corner and a multi-storey market. Due to strong public objections and agitations, the work of the project was temporarily stopped, but in 2021, Dhaka South City Corporation started the construction of a multi-storied building market for the purpose of collecting revenue inside the field without the permission of the Department of Environment. It is said that this is part of field ‘development’ initiative. Due to this market, 0.62 percent of the field will be reduced.
Those to whom the legal notice has been sent are Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation, Secretary of Ministry of Lands, Secretary of Local Government, Secretary of Environment, Director General of Department of Environment, Chairman of Capital Development Authority, Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Chief Urban Planner of Capital Development Authority, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka and No. 45 of Dhaka South City Corporation