Park
Lawachara National Park Travel Guide: Evergreen forest in northeastern Bangladesh
Lawachara National Park is a prominent national park in Bangladesh. The park is known for its extensive forest reserves with diverse flora and fauna in and around it. Being a national park, Lawachara is a must-visit place for anyone traveling around Sreemangal and Moulvibazar. Here’s everything you need to know about touring the famous natural reserve of Bangladesh.
Where is Lawachara National Park?
Lawachara National Park is situated in Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar district. The park used to be part of the greater West Bhanugach Reserved Forest area until its establishment as a national park. The reserved forest covers approximately 27.4 sqkm of land of which Lawachara covers around 12.5 sq km.
The northeastern region of Bangladesh is known for the large deciduous trees indigenous to the region (as a secondary forest). Likewise, Lawachara thrived as a semi-evergreen forest biome with a deciduous forest biome.
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DAP: Keraniganj to get park on 442 acares, bigger than botanical garden, Ramna park
‘Sheikh Hasina Regional Park’, set to be established on 442 acares of land in Keraniganj under Detailed Area Plan (DAP 2022-2035),will be Dhaka’s largest park, surpassing National Botanical Garden and Ramna Park.
Mushtaq Ahmed, the Chief Architect of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), said Rajuk has already appointed an implementation and consulting firm for the park, and a consultant team has been engaged for the construction work.
They are working on the park's design, he said.
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Rajuk's urban planner Mohammad Ashraful Islam, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, and Keraniganj Upazila Chairman Shaheen Ahmed, in collaboration with Rajuk's project team have finalized location of the park.
The construction of this park is expected to commence shortly, he said.
Detailed Area Plan 2016-2035 for Dhaka Metropolitan Region aims to create an eco-friendly and modern city by constructing five large regional parks, 49 water-based parks, eight eco parks (including Bhawal Shal Forest), and nine other parks and playgrounds.
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As part of this initiative, Rajuk has acquired approximately 422 acres of land in Subhadhya, Kullirchak, Baghair, and Kazirgaon mouzas of Keraniganj upazila in Dhaka, designating it as Sheikh Hasina Regional Park. The proposed land use for this park is designated as open space.
Rajuk also intends to construct a new 100-feet road on the western side of Sheikh Hasina Regional Park. The project is currently awaiting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s approval.
At a programme here recently Nasrul Hamid told reporters that National Botanical Garden was established in 1961 on 208 acres or 624 bighas of land near the National Zoo. After that area, Ramna Park is in second place with an area of 68.5 acares. Sheikh Hasina Regional Park in Keraniganj will set a new record in terms of size, surpassing the botanical garden and Ramna Park, he said.
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Several senior officers from Rajuk, along with local MP and Upazila Chairman, recently visited the proposed park location in Keraniganj. The delegation included Rajuk member and project planner Mohammad Nasir Uddin, member (development control) Samsuddin Ahmed Chowdhury, Bangladesh University of Engineering (Buet) Professor Md. Al Amin, and others.
A festival of flowers in Chattogram
A nine-day flower festival at Faujdarhat-Port Link Road in Chattogram is drawing visitors in droves.
The site used to be considered “unsafe” and was frequented by drug users after dark, according to locals. But now, various types of flowers and the birds they attract are vying for the attention of nature-lovers.
The local administration took the initiative to turn the abandoned place as ‘DC Flower Park’ where the first “flower festival” of Chattogram is taking place.
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The festival started on Friday evening and will continue till February 18.
Already more than 5,000 flowers of 122 local and foreign varieties have been planted on the 194 acres of khas land.
Child falls to death from roller coaster in Dhaka
A 12-year-old child has died after falling from a roller coaster at an eco park in the capital’s Kadamtali area on Tuesday.
The deceased Md Rabbi, son of Jonu Mia, is a fifth grader at a local school. He lived with his family in Gandaria area. His home town is in Imamganj village of Sirajdikhan upazila of Munshiganj.
Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of DMCH Police Outpost Md. Abdul Khan said the incident took place this noon when Rabbi was visiting an Eco Park with some of his relatives on the occasion of Eid.
Quoting victim's brother-in-law Sumon Islam, the police officer said, Rabbi fell off a roller coaster while he was trying to ride on it.
Rabbi was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead.
The body has been kept in the hospital morgue for autopsy, the ASI added.
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The fight to save Dhaka's 'oxygen bank'
Suhrawardy Udyan is often described as Dhaka's oxygen bank due to a lush canopy of trees. But the historic park seems to be under threat, having already lost a major portion of its green cover to an ongoing redevelopment project.
While authorities claim the project was undertaken to beautify Suhrawardy Udyan, citizens and green activists say trees are being chopped to make way for concrete structures on the pretext of beautification of the park.
The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Public Works are jointly implementing the development project worth Tk 265.44 crore. The project kicked off on 1 January 2018, with June 2022 being the completion deadline.
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Under the project, the government will construct a 6.5km walkway and seven food courts on the premises of the park. National Development Engineers Ltd has won the contract to execute the project.
However, different environmental organisations and regular visitors to the park, including students of Dhaka University, have of late intensified their protest against what they claim is the destruction of the park that is home to a variety of birds and animals.