Shahbagh’s Shaheed Zia Shishu Park may reopen next June after 8 years

Shaheed Zia Shishu Park in capital’s Shahbagh, has been closed for nearly eight years. After a long wait, the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) hopes to open the park to the public by June next year.

However, the original timeframe of the project under which the park is being modernised has already expired. Meanwhile, only 30 per cent of the physical work has been completed so far.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of Pubali Bank PLC’s ‘Shishu Park Branch’ at the park project site on Sunday afternoon, DSCC administrator Md Abdus Salam said they hoped to open the park to the public by 30 June 2027.

Abdus Salam said the current government had taken initiatives to complete the remaining work on the park quickly.

He said, “The physical progress of the project currently stands at 30 per cent. An international tender has already been invited to purchase 15 state-of-the-art rides for children’s entertainment.

These rides account for around 75 per cent of the entire project. I hope we will be able to give children a modern park within the stipulated timeframe.”

The nearly 15-acre park in Shahbagh has been closed since January 2019. An underground car park was built beneath the park as part of the third phase of the construction of the Swadhinata Stambha at Suhrawardy Udyan.

Many of the old rides were removed during this work. The park has not reopened for children since then.

Later, the DSCC undertook a Tk 6.03 billion (603.81 crore) project to modernise the park. The project was approved at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in August 2023.

Its implementation period was from July 2023 to June 2026. Although that deadline has passed, the work is still incomplete.

Of the project’s total cost, Tk 4.83 billion (483 crore) is to be provided by the government and Tk 1.2 billion (120 crore) from the DSCC’s own funds. The largest allocation has been set aside for purchasing and installing 15 rides, with around Tk 4.41 billion (441 crore) earmarked for this.

At the event, Abdus Salam called on private organisations to use their corporate social responsibility funds to participate in cleanliness drives, beautification and tree planting as part of efforts to develop Dhaka as a ‘clean city, green city’.

He also urged people to keep their homes and surrounding areas clean to prevent dengue and ensure that water does not remain stagnant anywhere for more than three days.

Pubali Bank PLC Managing Director and Chief Executive Mohammad Ali, along with officials from the DSCC and the bank, attended the event.