Century-old court bldg needs care

Dilapidated and worn out staircase of Parir Pahar is a testimony of sheer negligence of the authories. Vendors find room in the staircase for putting their items on display. Photo: Star

Lack of care causes the exquisite building premises to lose all its charm day by day. Absence of proper maintenance of infrastructure in and around the court building manifests itself in a total mess. The court building premises is a favourite rendezvous for anti-social elements.

At the same time the building and its premises represent various problems causing inconvenience to thousands of people turning up there everyday.

The building was built in the shape of the then Kolkata Writers' Building back in 1893-94. The two-story building was constructed at a cost of Tk. 6 lakh on the huge Parir Pahar acquired from Zamindar (landlord) Aukhil Chandra Sen in 1889.

The surrounding areas of the building presented a panoramic view and attracted thousands of visitors offering opportunity to see the city.

Once some four to five staircases led to the hilltop court building and facilitated the visitors to climb up Parir Pahar from all sides. About two hundred lawyers and judges dealt with some two or three thousand cases in the court in a district of around 10 lakh people, sources said.

But after a long 110 years when Chittagong turns into a city of over 35 lakh people, the court has only two staircases at the east and the west entry points, they added.

Thousands of visitors are now forced to climb up the hilltop court building struggling through the huge crowd of dilapidated and worn out staircases that require repair for long.

Unplanned structures are choking the picturesque Parir Pahar. But the construction of structures is going on. Hundreds of makeshift shops were constructed there hindering movement of the visitors and vehicles.

The authorities concerned face difficulties in finding space to house the courts for ever-increasing number of justice-seekers.

Lawyers said there was a shortage of space for expansion of the court building, but vendors do not find any difficulty to turn the premises into a 'market place'.

Landslides or erosion take place during the rainy season every year as drainage system is not well-developed in the court building.

The latrine and toilet facilities in the court building are poor. The existing few latrines are rather creating problem as they often remain unfit for use, visitors said.

The court premise is a 'safe haven' for floating sex workers and vagabonds and others involved in different unsocial activities, sources said.

Advocate Zia Habib Ahsan said it also poses a threat to the security of the court building. The court building lacks minimum security measures whereas there are special force or arrangements for maintaining security of courts in other countries, he added.