This satellite image shows the greenery of Suhrawardi Udyan. One third of the park is to be handed over to Dhaka Club for developing a golf course. Photo: Google Earth

A government decision to hand more than one third of Suhrawardi Udyan to Dhaka Club for golfing would take away a breathing place from the city residents, environmentalists yesterday said.

The housing and public works ministry on June 18 gave the club temporary permission to use the park's 25 acres of land, out of 68 acres, as a golf course which stretches from the Engineers Institute gate to Tin Netar Majar (the memorial to three national leaders).

City residents use the downtown park for jogging, children as a playground and for the homeless it is home.

Dhaka Club, meantime, is all set to host a golf competition at the venue from November 9, for which the club authorities would soon start fencing the area to restrict access to it, sources said.

Protesting the government decision, green activists, under the banner of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa), urged the administration to reconsider its move as the city is steadily losing its green patches.

Apart from being the breathing place of the people, the park is tied to the independence struggle of the country, Bapa President Dr Abdul Matin told a Suhrawardi Udyan gathering and urged the government to keep the park as a public place.

He said they will soon meet the housing and public works adviser to press home their demand, noting that leasing the ground will deny the people access to the city green.

"We're not against sports, but the area should be kept open to all", said the environmental group's Vice President Kazi Madina.

"We must preserve the area in the greater interests of the nation", she added.

Bapa Treasurer Mohidul Haque Khan, Prof Khandoker Bazlul Haque and Md Alamgir Kabir were also present at the gathering.

According to Prof Muntasir Mamoon of history department at Dhaka University, the British rulers took over a large chunk of Nawab estate in Ramna in 1941, from which it leased 524 bighas of land to Dhaka Club, 190 bighas were turned into a race course and 19 bighas into a golf course.

The post-independence Bangladesh government opened the area to the public, entrusting the public works ministry with its maintenance.

The ministry said the once 100-acre land shrank over the years because of erecting structures like Engineers Institute, Sarak Bhaban and Police Control Room round its perimeter.