Historic hillock razed or not?
On October 10, a group of socially concerned citizens went to protest the gang-rape that occurred at Sylhet's MC College. After protesting, some of the participants entered the college campus and found that part of a historic hillock was reportedly being razed.
As they also protested this incident, the operation was halted and after a couple of weeks, and the college authority managed to reshape the hillock and claimed that it was not razed to begin with.
The hillock, commonly known as "Thackeray Tila", is named after William Makepeace Thackeray, who came to Sylhet as its Collector under East India Company in 1772.
During his tenure, he lived in a bungalow built on top of the hillock. Now, the residential bungalow of the college's principal is situated there.
The part of the hillock centring the incident is adjacent to the college's old canteen, where a 10-storey building is being constructed, with a budget of Tk 13 crore.
Abdul Karim Kim -- general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa), Sylhet chapter -- said, "On that day, we visited the college and found the contractor's men razing part of the hillock with an excavator."
"Although we saw them doing so, the authority claimed that they were removing unearthed soil stored at the bottom of the hillock. But we strongly protested the act," he said.
On Saturday, this correspondent visited the college and found that the hillock's slope was reshaped to the original state, but the soil was loose.
Md Uzzal Bakth, sub-assistant engineer of Education Engineering Department (EED) in Sylhet, said, "The soil, which was unearthed while piling the building, was stored at the bottom of the hillock, and the contractor was just removing that soil, not razing the hillock."
MC College Principal Prof Saleh Ahmed also said the same. "I understand the importance of Thackeray Tila, as I live on top of it. The part razed is just the stockpile of soil previously unearthed, not part of the historic hillock."
"I vow to protect all hillocks, natural beauty and the college's heritage. In no way will I let the contractor destroy this," he said.
While the college authority and EED denied the allegation, Department of Environment (DoE) says otherwise.
Emran Hossain, director of DoE in Sylhet, said, "Being informed of hillock razing, I contacted EED officials, and they said the contractor mistakenly razed a part of the hillock, and no further harm will be done."
Abdul Karim Kim said, "Anyone can make mistakes. The college authority should've admitted it and assured all that this will never happen in the future. Such issues should be transparent, especially when it comes to an educational Institution."
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