Kids happy as dead park gets back life
Muktijoddha Shishu Park in the town has returned to its former beauty around 10 years after it became unusable due to the negligence of the authorities concerned.
The newly renovated park was inaugurated on Sunday by State Minister for Health and Family Welfare, also lawmaker from Manikganj-3 constituency, Jahid Malek Swapan.
Manikganj Municipality Mayor Gazi Kamrul Huda Selim presided over the inaugural function, where renowned singer and lawmaker from Manikganj-2 constituency Mamtaz Begum, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Md Nazmus Sadat Salim, Superintendent of Police Rifat Rahman Shamim, Zila Parishad Chairman Golam Mohiuddin, Public Prosecutor of Manikganj Judge's Court Abdus Salam, and Commander of Muktijoddha Sangsad Engineer Tubarak Hossain Ludu were present.
The then DC Ataur Rahman established the children's park on about one acre of land of the DC office premises in 2007. It was named Muktijoddha Shishu Park in memory of the freedom fighters of the Liberation War.
DC Ataur was transferred a few months after establishing the park. It became unfit for use within nine or ten months after Ataur's departure due to negligence of the authorities concerned.
To meet the demand of the municipality's residents, the present DC and the mayor took the initiative for renovation and development of the park in October last year. The municipality was given the responsibility of caring for the park. After getting the charge, the mayor formed a five-member committee for renovation and development of the park.
The committee is comprised of ward No 6 councillor of the municipality Subhash Sarkar as convener, Mostafizur Rahman Mamun, general secretary of Udichi Shilpigoshthi, as member secretary, and Deepak Kumar Ghosh, president of Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, Aslam Khan Babu, joint secretary of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Sabiha Habib, councillor of women's reserved ward No 3 of the municipality as members.
The mayor said the committee worked relentlessly for the last seven months and completed the renovation and development of the park, adding that various individuals and organisations, including the municipality, provided financial support for the work, which cost around Tk 20 lakh. Two latrines, two washrooms and one storeroom have been built in the park for Tk 6.50 lakh, he said.
The renovated park has many kinds of rides. There are sculptures of tiger, bear, elephant, deer, camel and dinosaur. A ride in the electric train of the park costs Tk 20, but there is no entry fee or any charge for other rides, the mayor said.
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