DC expresses solidarity in Sylhet’s development inequality elimination programme
filter: 0; fileterIntensity: 0.0; filterMask: 0; brp_mask:0;
brp_del_th:null;
brp_del_sen:null;
delta:null;
module: photo;hw-remosaic: false;touch: (0.49527815, 0.4611111);sceneMode: 32768;cct_value: 0;AI_Scene: (-1, -1);aec_lux: 0.0;aec_lux_index: 0;albedo: ;confidence: ;motionLevel: -1;weatherinfo: null;temperature: 49;
Sylhet Bureau :
Various programmes have been called for to eliminate development inequality with Sylhet.As part of the programme, A sit-in programme was held at court point in Sylhet city.
Former Mayor of Sylhet City Corporation Ariful Haque Chowdhury spoke at the sit-in programme. He said that even though projects in other districts of the country are approved, no project in Sylhet has seen the light of day. 2400 crores in Dhaka City, 2400 crores in Khulna, 3100 crores in Chittagong, 2400 crores in Barisal, and 1900 crores in Sylhet have been taken back. To reduce it further, I want the people of Sylhet to know who are the Sylhet haters. We have been victims of inequality for the past 17 years, the people of Sylhet cannot be educated about inequality during the current interim government.
He further said that a special train was supposed to be provided to the Sylhet tourist city, but that train has been withdrawn. To upgrade to dual gauge double line, two new trains were supposed to be launched on Sylhet-Dhaka and Sylhet-Cox’s Bazar railways, that project is closed due to unseen reasons.
An OSHA project was supposed to be done in Sylhet, but drinking water has been stopped on various pretexts. Water plant has to be implemented.
It will not be accepted that the land of Hazrat Shahjalal (RA) will be subjected to repeated discrimination. If the demands of the people of Sylhet are not met soon, a blockade will be imposed across the Sylhet division. Moreover, Sylhetites living in different countries of the world are already continuing their agitation. Due to the natural resources of Sylhet, Sylhet resources are playing an important role in the overall development of the country. Sylhet’s bypass road has been completed in the last one and a half decades. Also, the condition of various roads in Sylhet is poor. We demand the immediate implementation of the bypass roads of Sylhet.
This program was held from City Point to Surma Market Point today, Monday at 11 am. The programme was presided over by the Imam and Khatib of Dargah Mosque, Hafez Maulana Asjad Ahmed, and leaders of various political and professional organizations spoke at the programme.
This commercial meeting has been called at the initiative of the ‘Sylhet Movement’ formed to realize the just demands of Sylhet. Former Mayor of Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) Ariful Haque Chowdhury announced this program on behalf of the protesters.
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 program.
The program said that Sylhet is a victim of deprivation in various ways in terms of development. An ultimatum was given to implement the demands as soon as possible to eliminate the development disparity in this department.
Former mayor of SCC, Ariful Haque Chowdhury, announced the program and called on the imams of the Sylhet region to highlight the issue in their Friday sermons last 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, a torch procession was taken out from the Hazrat Shahjalal (R.) Dargah premises after Maghrib last Saturday in support of the program. Ariful Haque Chowdhury also said that he recently met with the Road Transport and Bridges Advisor and the Railway Advisor Mohammad Fawzul Kabir Khan regarding the existing problems in road and rail communication. During the meeting, he said that they are aware of this problem and that he himself has inspected the Dhaka-Sylhet highway. Currently, the situation has improved a lot. For the past week, 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 in infrastructure development including railway tickets has not yet been made. However, the advisor has assured him of allocating 10 coaches for Sylhet. The issue of air fare is still a concern.
Ariful Haque Chowdhury said that Sylhet is lagging behind the most 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 in Sylhet’s 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 in Badaghat. In this situation, he expressed fear that there may be a cry for water in Sylhet next 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. The demand of all those living in Sylhet is that we will not leave the highway until a decision is made officially.
Former Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury handed over a copy of the written demand to the Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet during the programme.
At this time, the Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet Md Sarwar Alam said that the land acquisition work is going on rapidly for the Dhaka-Sylhet highway and supervision is being done to complete the work quickly. All the projects will be implemented quickly. Work is going on to solve the water problem, also the government is going to make a law on the up-down of the tick of the ear lines, if implemented in the next few weeks, it will come under control. The Deputy Commissioner said that a plan should be adopted for the renovation of the railway line so that the people of Sylhet do not have to protest for the next hundred years. Another flight will be launched in Sylhet by next December, many trends have been made for road renovation and development, which will be implemented very quickly. He said that the government is working for sustainable development. Sustainable development should be developed by ensuring environmental protection and development. The government has a grand plan for the tourism industry in Sylhet. If implemented quickly, the people of Sylhet will benefit.