Move to convert Laldighi into swimming pool illegal: HC

The High Court yesterday declared the Chittagong City Corporation's (CCC) move to convert Laldighi into a swimming pool illegal.
Delivering a verdict on a writ petition, the court observed that Laldighi, a public water body, has to be protected for public use and it cannot be converted into a swimming pool in any manner.
The HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore gave the order after holding final hearing on the petition filed by Bangladesh Environmentalist Lawyers Association (Bela).
Bela filed the petition on May 18 in 2010 on the basis of newspaper reports published in April that year which said the CCC authorities have started earth filling into historical Laldighi to turn it into a swimming pool.
The petition sought direction from the HC to the authorities to protect Laldighi and restore it to its original position.
The HC the same day imposed a restriction on converting Laldighi into a swimming pool and issued a rule upon the CCC and the government to explain why they should not be directed to take effective measures to protect it from earth filling.
Advocate Iqbal Kabir Lytton appeared for the petitioner while Deputy Attorney General ABM Altaf Hossain represented the government.