Concerned citizens of Port City Chittagong on Saturday announced the end of their movement to save the Chattogram Railway Building (CRB) premises after getting assurances from the government that no hospital will be built there.
According to civic group Nagarik Samaj, the Chattogram residents had been protesting for 483 days to save CRB, also called the lungs of the city for the green space it provides amid all the concrete and pollution.
Public representatives of the ruling party on Saturday attended a rally arranged by Nagarik Samaj at CRB and said all the parliament members from Chattogram had signed an application seeking to stop construction of a hospital there and handed it to the Prime Minister.
MP Mosharraf Hossain, Awami League presidium member, said, “We have sent our application to the Railway Minister and he took it to the Prime Minister. She is also against the construction of a hospital destroying a natural and historical place like CRB.”
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”We held a meeting with Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan and he said he had discussed the matter with the Prime Minister. She said no hospital will be built, destroying the environment and nature. Sometimes such projects are taken mistakenly,” said Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud, who joined the rally over a phone call.
MP Mosharraf Hossain said soon the Prime Minister will make an announcement herself that no hospital will be built at CRB.
Leaders of Nagarik Samaj, which has been leading the protests against the plans to build a hospital in the CRB area, demanded to convert it into a national park.
The idea to build a hospital under Private Public Partnership in CRB was first broached at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on August 14, 2013.
But the project was finally approved in February 2020.
However, residents of the Port City got a rude shock when they came to learn about it on a signboard that appeared at the intended site around July last year
By mid-July, the shock turned into a movement against the hospital planned at CRB, and it kept gaining momentum.
On July 17, 2021, they held rallies, a tree plantation program, formed a human chain and even engaged in other forms of protests all day against the planned hospital.
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A legal notice was sent to concerned individuals including the Cabinet Secretary, Secretary of the Ministry of Railways, Director General of Bangladesh Railways and a few others by the Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation’ on behalf of the protestors to move the hospital site elsewhere.
Built by the British colonial administration in 1872 as the headquarters of the Assam-Bengal Railway , CRB is a scenic, hilly quarter of the Port City known for its Shireesh trees. Surrounded by centuries-old trees, hills, hills and valleys, this area is home to a variety of species of birds and animals.
Chattogram residents celebrate the Bengali New Year on April 14 every year on an open stage called “Shireeshtala” at CRB area. CRB also hosts the famed “Boli Khela”, an annual freehand wrestling challenge that draws competitors from far and wide.
Besides, ordinary citizens of all ages and backgrounds gather in the area every day to catch the fresh air.
Source: United News of Bangladesh