The Foy's lake threatened by construction of amusement park

By Khalilur Rahman,

BDNEWS writer

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Chittagong, Feb 28 (BDNEWS) - The environment of the century old Foy's lake, country's lone artificial lagoon with a beautiful picturesque surrounded by hills and lush green forests at Pahartoli, Chittagong, is threatened with the construction works by a private firm in the name of development.

Though the construction firm, the Concord group, is supposed to set up only a restaurant there, it is implementing a Tk103-crore huge project of amusement park on the lakeside without getting any environment impact assessment no-objection certificate from the Directorate of Environment.

Last year, the Concord group got a 50-year lease of the property around Foy's lake, a marvellous refreshing sight of natural endowment within the grip of the bustling port city, and began turning it into a modern entertainment facility.

In April last year, the site was handed over to the Concord group. In November, the construction firm inaugurated the lush green hilly zigzag lake as an amusement park.

It is alleged that soon after getting the lease, the Concord began the construction work in the lakeside defying the set rules of Chittagong Development Authority (CDA), Railway and Environment Directorate.

Though, according to section 12 of Environment Act, 1995, it is mandatory to take the prior clearance from the Environment Directorate in implementing any industrial unit or project, the construction firm did not take such permission from them.

The Construction firm only got NOC for setting up a restaurant in the lakeside.

When contacted, ABM Zakaria, Deputy General Manager of the Concord Group, admitted to the BDNEWS that they are yet to get the clearance.

"We have submitted the Environment Management Plan (EMP) to the environment directorate," he said adding: After depositing Tk 8 lakh we would get the clearance.

It is also alleged that the development activities by the construction firms also violated the CDA Master Plan.

According to the CDA Master Plan, it is strictly prohibited to build any industry or commercial structure in the lakeside, which is recognized as a special control zone.

The Railway, meanwhile, in a letter recently, warned the Concord group for cutting the hills at the lakeside in the name of development.

In the letter, the railway said: "Railway authorities did not give permission to the Concord to cut hills. We only gave them permission to build up an amusement centre keeping all the railway property intact."

While visiting the lake area, the BDNEWS team saw that the construction firm has already cut the hills for constructing a road.

It is also apprehended that massive landslide might be occurred during the rainy season.

Meanwhile, the water of the lake is being polluted day by day as Concord group allowed 10 engine-driven boats to ply in the lake. Two floating restaurants were also set up on the lake polluting its water. The visitors are also polluting the lake waters by throwing empty non-biodegradable packets of chips, juice and water.

However, concerned CDA or Railway officials refrained from making any comment regarding establishing the amusement park by Concord.

The Foy's lake is also a big sanctuary of different species of endangered animals, reptiles and birds.

British Engineer Mr Foy was the mastermind of the lake. Under his supervision a vast area of a small hilly valley with fascinating beauty and unique geographical location had been turned into a big artificial water reservoir by constructing dams on surrounding hills in 1925.

The core objective behind turning the place into a lake under the auspices of the then Assam-Bengal Railway Authority was to meet the increasing demand of water for domestic and commercial use after establishment of Assam –Bengal Railway headquarters at Pahartali in the city in 1980.

The 48.75 cares valley with a total of area of 336.61 acres can contain about 27.30 crore gallons of green water.

corr/ag/ni/1617 hrs