Community comes to the rescue of a park at Baridhara

A strip of walkway in the Baridhara Lakeside Park. Photo: Durdana Ghias

Amid the growing concrete jungle a park in the city stands out to offer the locals a breath of fresh air and the opportunity to walk in the serene ambience of the Gulshan-Baridhara lakeside.
After the success story of a well-maintained Baridhara Park, the Baridhara community has now started developing Baridhara Lakeside Park, a long 20-bigha strip beside the huge lake.
The tranquillity and cleanliness of the park invites those craving for a little walk. Among the numerous parks occupied illegally or left in a deplorable state, the Lakeside Park must be an exception.
Abdur Rauf, general secretary, Baridhara Society, said seeing their successful maintenance of Baridhara Park, Rajuk has handed them over the Baridhara Lakeside Park around one and a half years ago.
Brick pavements, tessellated grilles, halogen lights, walkways and electric poles were set up spending over Tk 25 lakh by the members of Baridhara Society, an organisation of the local community.
After the handover the Society had made tremendous efforts to free the park from the grip of illegal occupiers. False cases, threats on life were some elements the Society had to deal with during the process of eviction.
Just a year ago this park was a safe haven for drug addicts and antisocial elements. It was dotted with around 30 to 40 makeshift latrines. There were makeshift homes, which were rented out, and several nurseries.
"It had been made a slum under the grip of hoodlums," said Rauf. "We told Rajuk to evict them. I personally requested the Rajuk chairman to evict them after the handover, but he said it was not possible for them."
Eviction was almost an impossible task as the occupiers were backed by political parties. The Society then approached all the local political leaders. It had to work hard to bring the local BNP, Awami League and Jatiya Party leaders at one table. They were told about the state of the park and how important it was to save it from the occupiers.
“After receiving their consent we went to the park to ask the occupiers to leave it. But still they did not listen. We had to coax them, warn them and even had to use force to make them leave the place. It took us at least six months to free the park from illegal occupiers," said Rauf.
However, the Society could not evict five to six multi-storey houses in the park on five to six katha plots allotted illegally during the rule of Ershad. Some of these houses encroached on the park's space by setting up backyard garden, which were later removed by the Society, said locals.
For the residents this is one place where they can walk safely.
"It is very crucial for a congested city like Dhaka to have a place for a walk. I love walking but it is hard to find well-maintained open spaces in this city," said Diane, a regular park user.
Some rules are followed to keep the park clean and quiet. Smoking, munching on nuts, gossiping and wearing informal dress like lungi are prohibited.
The Society will ensure 24-hour security at the park after its main gate is constructed. The gate's design has been approved by Rajuk. Besides, an architect has prepared a master plan for the park's beautification.
Rajuk is assisting in setting up walkways in the park.