To remove development disparity with Sylhet

Sylhet Bureau :

A sit-in programme has been called in Sylhet city on Sunday (November 1) to remove development disparity with Sylhet. The programme will be held from City Point to Surma Market Point at 11 am on that day.

The call for this protest has been made by the ‘Sylhet Movement’ formed to realize the just demands of Sylhet. Former Mayor of Sylhet City Corporation (CCIC) Ariful Haque Chowdhury announced this programme on behalf of the protesters.

On this occasion, people from different classes and professions, as well as leaders of various businessmen, social, cultural, teachers, journalists, religious and transport owner-labor organizations, participated in the exchange of views held at Ariful Haque Chowdhury’s residence in Kumarpara on Thursday night.

The meeting said that Sylhet is a victim of deprivation in various ways in terms of development. A 15-day ultimatum was given from the October 12 rally at the city’s Court Point to remove the development disparity in this division. In the meantime, although the ultimatum period has expired, there has been no effective step to implement the demand. An organization called ‘Sylhet Andolon’ was formed to remove the development deprivation in this region, and the initiative of this newly formed platform announced a sit-in program on Sunday.

Former mayor of SSIC Ariful Haque Chowdhury announced the program and called on the imams of the Sylhet region to highlight the issue in their Friday sermons on Friday. He also called on the responsible persons of temples, churches and pagodas to highlight the just demands of the people of Sylhet. In addition, it was decided to take out a torch procession from the Hazrat Shahjalal (R.) Dargah premises on Saturday after Maghrib in support of the program.

Ariful Haque Chowdhury also said in the meeting that he recently met with Road Transport and Bridge Advisor and Railway Advisor Mohammad Fauzul Kabir Khan regarding the existing problems regarding road and rail connectivity. During the meeting, he said that they are aware of this problem and he himself has inspected the Dhaka-Sylhet highway. The situation has improved a lot. For the past week or so, people have been able to travel to Dhaka in 6/7 hours. Ariful Haque Chowdhury expressed some satisfaction with road connectivity, but complained that the desired development has not yet been made in terms of infrastructure development, including rail tickets. However, the advisor has assured him of allocating 10 coaches for Sylhet. The issue of air fare is still a concern.

Ariful Haque Chowdhury told the meeting that Sylhet is the most lagging behind in terms of receiving allocations from the Ministry of Local Government. A project worth Tk 24 billion was taken up for Sylhet in 2021 for the renovation and development of roads and ghats of Sylhet upazilas and unions. However, the Local Government Secretary has again instructed to prepare a DPP (Development Project Proposal) for the project – this is disappointing for us. There is also no progress in setting up a water treatment plant at Badaghat. In this situation, he expressed his fear that there may be a cry for water in Sylhet during the coming Ramadan. He commented that in the overall situation, the people of Sylhet have no choice but to take to the streets. In this context, he said, “We will not leave the streets unless our demands are met.”