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Proposed Prisons Training Academy

Rajshahi residents rally to protect char land

Staff Correspondent, Rajshahi
Nearly 100 people demonstrated in front of Rajshahi Central Jail yesterday, protesting prison authorities' bid to grab at least 100 acres of char land on the river Padma.
They also made a six-point demand including protecting the areas along the river in the town as heritage sites. The river bank has its role in establishing the township and connected to many historic events.
The Daily Star on May 15 reported that the prison authorities in May last year proposed to the land ministry for acquiring 100 acres of char land for building a complex for a training
academy. The proposed work would require activities like river training and river filling.
Learning about the initiative, local people expressed angry reactions on social media, and a socio-cultural organisation named "Rajshahi-bashi" (citizens of Rajshahi) called the demonstration.
At Ham, some 50 people under the organisation's banner formed a human chain on the footpath in front of Rajshahi Central Jail. Many locals, under the banner of two other organisations — Swadhinata Charcha Kendra and Tarunner Shokti - joined them.
Demonstrators also staged a rally with Rajshahi-bashi convener Mahbub Tunku in the chair.
Tunku in his speech asked the prison authorities to find another place for building the academy, and let the river flow. He said any project to construct concrete structures on the river would hamper the region's ecology and may affect the river flow.
'The river has turned towards right following siltation. Now we may even lose the river, if it is disturbed with concrete constructions," he said.
Mahfuzur Rahman, convener of Swadhinata Charcha Kendra, said the river areas in the city have remained unchanged since the British era, and the present generation would protect the site.
"We are worried about the decision, as the char areas of the river's right bank where people live, would vanish if the project is implemented," he said. Mahfuzur also suggested that the prison authorities should think about shifting the jail and its offices from the river side.
The speakers drew attention of Rajshahi city mayor and lawmakers in this regard.
Their other demands include - construction of the proposed prisons training academy elsewhere in the city, demolition of all illegal infrastructures along the river bank, and keeping the area free from grabbers.
They would submit a memorandum to the prime minister raising the demands today.
Contacted yesterday, Altab Hossain, deputy inspector general of prisons in Rajshahi division, said they would call the locals who demonstrated for a discussion soon.
"We shall not engage in any programme that is not acceptable to locals," he told The Daily Star. He said he would convey the local people's demands to his higher authority.