-Illegal shops spoiled the beauty of city
-Electricity used in illegal way freely
-Entertainment places under control of politics
-Youth gangs running rampant across city
The competition for setting up temporary shops is going on in the sightseeing and entertainment places of Barisal city. The empty space around the entertainment places is being occupied. Various food shops are being built.
Some are renting shops, some are doing business themselves. Besides, illegal electricity is being freely used in these shops.
WZPDCL Executive Engineer Faruq Hossain sided with the illegal tempoprary shopkeepers. For the last 10 years, these shops were running from dusk till late night with the help of illegal electricity, but the electricity department was completely silent. After the Mass uprising on August 5, there has been a drastic change in the city. These floating shops are built around Barisal's Shadhinata Park, Chowmatha, Bells Park and Kanchan Park.
A group of local youths are taking control of these open spaces now that the previous political influence and extortion has stopped. Some of them have political identity and some don't. Some are juvenile gangs and some are youth gang leaders who are running rampant across the city.
These pictures are seen in Barisal City Corporation's Ward No 13 Shadhinata Park and Ward No 21 and 22 Chowmatha Lake areas. Most of the owners of the floating shops that have sprung up overnight are local youth which is made and rented. Some of the shop owners themselves are residents of the nearby slums.
Tea, Fuchka, Chatapti, Halim, Jhalmuri, women's ornaments, etc are completely surrounded by various commercial stalls. That is why the beauty of Chaumatha Lake and Shadhinata Park has gone behind the border of sight. Chaumatha Lake is one of the most beautiful places in the city. It is a place of peace and rest for the eyes of travelers and pedestrians coming and going along the highway. However, this lake has been occupied by political parties for a long time.
Local residents and urban thinkers are calling for its restoration and renovation. However, due to the floating food stalls, the city dwellers find it very difficult to restore and renovate. They complain that these shops are illuminated only in the evening. Each store has three to four high power bulbs. This connection is not harmful to the electricity sector.
Urban thinker and political analyst Kazi Mizanur Rahman said, I don't want to talk about them anymore. Many beautiful Barisal's historical heritage and structures have been destroyed for a long time. Can any people travel now in Chowmatha Lake, Shadhinata Park, Muktijoddha Park, and Bells Park? All are now in the possession of hawkers and scoundrels. He drew the attention of the administrator of Barisal City Corporation and said, "Renovate and preserve the places of interest and entertainment which are witnesses of historical heritage as soon as possible." He said that it is very important to keep safe the Barisal divisional museums and places of interest and to ensure the facilities of the tourists.
In the last 15 years, hundreds of roadside eateries have come up on the banks of Chaumatha Lake in the city. And because of this, the 'Nabogram Road-Chowmatha Lake', built at a cost of around Tk 5 crore, has become a bottleneck for the citizens of Barisal. However, the residents alleged that two councilors of the former city council were behind the occupation of those illegal structures.
Due to these illegal shops, the risk of accidents is constantly increasing in this part of the national highway number 8 of the country. The children's park built on the national highway by occupying the road department's land at the northern end of the lake has already turned into one of the accident sites of the city.
The conscious civil society is quite concerned about the senseless activities of the previous city councils. Even in the name of construction of this park, the junction of the highway with Rajkumar Ghosh Road of the City Corporation has been closed. As a result, the city corporation has closed the easy way for the movement of students and parents of two educational institutions with at least 300 families here. The push between the road department and city hall has started but no real decision has been reached regarding this park. After eviction of the illegal street food stalls from the banks of the lake, the highway users and most of the people of the city have expressed anger over its restoration.
Local residents said that thousands of women, men and children travel around this lake near the Nabagram road junction. But no one has the opportunity to sit comfortably on the shore of the lake. The hawkers occupied the entire lake shore. A few places are empty. That is, most of the shops are staffed by a section of local youth. The employee runs the shop and the young people hang out on the lakeside. They said that they attack when there is a dispute with a customer.
The matter is under the City Corporation. So the police administration of Barisal is silent about this. He said, if we don't get any complaint, we have nothing to do. And the city corporation authorities have to decide whether there will be floating shops around the park or not.
When attention was drawn to this matter, the administrator of Barisal City Corporation, Barisal Divisional Commissioner Shawkat Ali said, I will discuss the matter with the public representatives and take a step very soon. If anyone from civil society brings discussion and advice, then he is welcome. Then whatever they suggest will be our course of action. You journalists can also do this responsibility. The administrator said that a beautiful and safe Barisal should be built with mutual cooperation.
ZH
