Staff Reporter: The Ministry of Culture is considering a proposal to preserve Chittagong’s Parir Pahar as an archeological site amid a dispute between the district administration and the Bar Association over the construction of a new facility.
Besides, the district administration has proposed to declare the 130-year-old two-story court building in Pari Parhar as a ‘heritage’.
A total of 44 government offices, including the offices of the Chittagong Divisional Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner in Pari Parhar, and other government offices in other parts of the city, will visit Kalurghat.
The design of the proposed ‘integrated office building construction project’ may be finalized this month. The project may take three to four years to complete.
In the meantime, the Prime Minister has agreed to a proposal from the Cabinet Division not to build new installations on the Parir hill and to remove illegal installations.
On August 29, the Chittagong district administration sent a letter to the Ministry of Culture regarding the removal and renovation of illegal structures in Pari Parhar.
A letter from the ministry on September 9 sought the opinion of the Department of Archeology on whether the Parir Pahar is a gazetted archeological site, if it is not gazetted, there is an opportunity to declare it now and whether there is an opportunity to renovate and preserve this area.
If you want to know the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Culture (Archeology and Museum Branch) said. Ataur Rahman said, “I have filed the matter of Pari Parhar, action will be taken as per the decision from above. If the government thinks that the Ministry of Culture will take the responsibility, then it will. It is a matter of the above decision. When the file comes from above, then the details can be told. ”
And Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mominur Rahman said, “In the light of the rich history and heritage of Bangladesh, we hope that it (old court building) will be declared a heritage under the Archaeological Preservation Act. Initiatives will be taken to preserve and renovate this building for future generations.
Office of the Deputy Commissioner and Divisional Commissioner at the top of Pari Hill in Chittagong Office of the Deputy Commissioner and Divisional Commissioner at the top of Pari Hill in Chittagong.
The old court building was built on the top of Pari hill in 1893-94. When the initiative was taken to demolish the old building, a civil society movement was formed in Chittagong to preserve the heritage.
Later in 2010, a new four-story court building was constructed behind the old building. The renovated 100-year-old court building has since been used as the office of the divisional commissioner, the office of the deputy commissioner, and various government offices.
Asked how the court and related activities would be conducted if the entire fairy hill was declared a heritage, the deputy commissioner said, “The court proceedings will continue. The Ministry of Culture will decide whether any of the buildings and parts of the hill will be preserved as heritage. “
The destination is on the banks of Karnafuli
Initiatives have been taken to relocate the Divisional Commissioner’s Office, the Deputy Commissioner’s Office, and 44 government offices scattered in different parts of the city to the banks of the Karnafuli River at Kalurghat.
Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mominur Rahman said that many people are suffering due to the fact that each office is located in one place. Many government offices do not even have their own buildings. That is why the Prime Minister has already taken up a project called ‘Integrated Office Building Construction Project’.
“The project will have 44 government offices including the office of the Divisional Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner’s Office, Government Employees Hospital, Circuit House, Government Training Center, Multi Stored Car Parking, Memorial.”
Preliminary work on the project has started in January this year. The land has been earmarked under Bangabandhu Maritime University at Kalurghat under the city’s Chandgaon circle. The project will be implemented on 63 acres of khas land there.
The deputy commissioner said, “The draft has been planned. The design may be finalized on September 23. Then the work of formulating DPP will start. In the next three to four years, all the service seekers in Chittagong will get all the government services in one place. ”
Court building on Pari hill in Chittagong Court building on Pari hill in Chittagong Fairy Hill was the property of the Portuguese during the Arakanese rule in the seventeenth century. It was handed over to Akhil Chandra Sen, a Bengali zamindar, in the middle of the nineteenth century.
In 1889, the British government bought this hill known as ‘Fairy Hill’ from Akhil Chandra. In 1893-94, a two-story court building was constructed in the style of the Writers’ Building at a cost of six lakh rupees.
Naveen Chandra Sen, a personal assistant to the then divisional commissioner who applied to the British government for the construction of the building, wrote in his autobiography that he had proposed to build a large building on Pari hill to house all the offices of commissioners, judges, collectors, and magistrates.
