A month-long flower festival is set to be organised for the second time at DC Park, spanning over 194 acres of recaptured land, in Salimpur village under Sitakunda upazila of Chattogram on Thursday.
Once known as a haven for drug addicts and criminals, an encroached government land located beside the City Outer Ring Road, adjacent to the Dhaka-Chattogram highway and Faujdarhat-Port Link Road, the area has been transformed into a park that showcases various types of flowers and offers additional facilities for visitors.
The park is home to over 127 domestic and foreign species.
In addition to the flower show, the festival will feature kayaking, an art exhibition with works from 100 painters, a boat exhibition, a book fair, a violin show, a kite festival, a pitha festival, a puppet dance, and various other cultural programmes.
While visiting the area, this correspondent found workers busy nurturing flower plants and tubs.
Some of them were busy working on the newly built structures such as boats and violins, while others were involved in decorating the plants in a planned arrangement.
Decorative plants have mostly been planted in the specific area of the well-planned spot. Many of the plants have already bloomed.
Several rooms for office purposes and washrooms were under construction. Food courts and benches were placed all over the park so that the visitors could enjoy nature while having food.
Sources said criminals, including drug addicts, carried out unsocial and illegal activities in the entire area.
People of the surrounding areas used to dump their garbage in the area too.
Meanwhile, some land-grabbers also set up illegal establishments in the area and conducted illegal business in the disguise of a picnic spot for more than 10 years.
The district administration demolished the establishments and took control of the area after a drive on 4 January 2023.
Later, the administration took plans to transform the 194.18 acres of land into the biggest flower garden in the country.
According to the plan, the entire area has been developed as a flower garden and the house of various establishments centring flowers.
Besides, there are two huge water bodies adjacent to the park and those were separated by a road through them.
The administration also set up benches on the banks of the water bodies and planted tree saplings of different species.
The visitors are also able to ride boats in the water bodies. A floating bridge has also been built on water alongside the bank. A special shed has been built for exotic tulips there.
The tulip buds are peeking out. Red, yellow, pink and white tulips are making their presence felt along with red-yellow tulips.
Apart from this, flowers like Lilium, Kalanchoe, Dahlia, Sunflower, Bougainvillea, Camellia, Rhododendron and Rangan are adorning the DC Park.
The park which will also have facilities for physically challenged people now charges only Tk30 for an entry fee.
Mentionable, the administration organised the biggest flower festival in the country at the park in February last year.
Similarly, they are organising the second edition of the festival from January 25 to February 24.
The fair aims to help the young generation to be more interested in flowers and plants and recreation for dwellers of the city and surrounding areas.
There will be arrangements for a multi-cultural festival and book fair during the month-long programme.
Chattogram Deputy Commissioner (DC) Abul Bashar Mohammed Fakhruzzaman said that various arrangements are being made during the month-long flower festival.
Initiatives have been taken to make the event more attractive compared to the previous occasion, he said.
Regarding the inspiration behind the park, the DC Abul Bashar Mohammed Fakhruzzaman said, “I lived in Australia for five years and observed that they host various festivals throughout the year, fostering brotherhood and kinship among the residents.”
“Similarly, DC Park will serve the same purpose and be a source of recreation for city dwellers, playing an imperative role in cultivating a love for nature among the younger generation,” he added.
