Some 60 to 70 trees have been felled so far for the infrastructure project inside the historic park of Suhrawardy Udyan, says Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq.
“Only 10 more trees need to be felled, at best,” he said on Thursday during a view exchange workshop organized by his ministry.
Apologizing for not holding a public hearing while planning the project, the minister said that he was not an expert on the environment.
“It didn’t strike me that a proper environment management panel was needed to maintain the ecological balance of this whole project. However, we are now emphasizing it and we expect everyone's contribution," he said.
According to the minister, the project initially required some 100 trees to be felled for the construction works.
"We have plans to plant some 2,000 various kinds of trees,” he added.
According to the detailed plan of the project, unveiled by the minister on Thursday, the park’s main entrance will be moved to the entrance of the amusement park, opposite to the Dhaka Club.
The entrance will include an underground parking for 500 cars.
The plan also includes installation of a 25-feet tall Bangabandhu sculpture to commemorate the historic March 7 speech. Another sculpture will be installed at the spot where the Pakistani occupation forces signed on March 16, 1971. The renovated park will have seven food kiosks, seven washrooms and a mosque.
It also proposed to relocate Shahbag police station to a new location beside the National Leaders' Mausoleum near Dhaka University’s Curzon Hall.
