The photo captures a proposed design of Tower of Light to be built to commemorate the historic March 7 speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital.Photo: File Photo

A 150-foot high glass tower, a major component of the Swadhinata Stambha complex in the capital, will be constructed by July next year, a decade after a project was taken to build the complex.
The structure named the Tower of Light will be installed for Tk 135 crore to commemorate the March 7 speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan.
The Awami League government took the project in 1996 and built an underground museum, a 2,000-seat theatre, VIP and Service Blocks, walkways, walls with mural and marble work and the south plaza in the first phase. The completed structures were opened to public on March 7 this year.
Construction of the glass tower and other unfinished work at the 67-acre complex will be completed by July next year, said AB Tajul Islam, state minister for liberation war affairs.
An allocation of Tk 172 crore was made in 2001 for constructing other components including the glass tower in the second phase.
But the succeeding BNP government cut back on both the project area and the budget. An expert team formed at that time suggested reducing the tower's height and the use of glass.
The BNP government later postponed the project for three years on grounds of anomaly and corruption, and finally abandoned it.
On assumption of power, the present AL-led government approved Tk 181 crore for the project that include Tk135 crore for the 256 square feet glass tower.
Shahbuddin Ahmed, project manager and executive engineer of the Public Works Department, said they asked the contractor to create a model of the tower by April.
But the tower's construction depends on the success of a viability test of its ten-foot model, said experts involved in the project.
The contractor can start constructing the tower, if the model gets through the viability tests involving weather pattern, the strength of glass structure and maintenance, said Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, who headed an expert committee on the project. Prof Reza with five others resigned on January 30 following a remark by the state minister for liberation war affairs.
Prof Syed Fakrul Ameen, member of a technical sub-committee on the project, said the technique for fixing glass on steel frames and refraction of light on glass was not clearly mentioned in the drawing.
"We will examine it along with the model," he said.
The task of constructing the tower has been awarded to a consortium of a Greek firm Novum and National Development Engineers Ltd, a local firm.
It is surely a tough task to build a glass tower of that height, said a top official of the Department of Architecture, wishing anonymity.
The High Court in 2009 directed the government to identify and conserve historic sites and remove any obstacles for general public to accessing those places.
But a police control room, Shahbagh Police Station, Shishu Park and flower shops still stand in the project area.
The sites where Bangabandhu gave the speech and the Pakistani forces surrendered fall inside the Shishu Park enclosure, said Prof Muntasir Mamun, former member of the expert committee.
Shikha Chirantan (eternal flame) at the complex was built in 1997 and inaugurated in presence of three world leaders -- South African leader Nelson Mandela, Turkish politician Süleyman Demirel and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.