Chandgaon RA: A world by itself

Until then I took Chandgaon Residential Area (CRA) to be a perfectly peaceful area for living. Then there were other incidents of houses being looted, kidnappings attempted at, and criminals trading fires with Chandgaon police, all which had just been taking place in the last few months, and breaking down my preliminary impression.

Thus, we can say that Chandgaon is slowly becoming yet another problem-ridden area like many other localities. Still then, I should say that compared to other areas, Chandgaon is a much fuller area to live in. It has an ideal suburb location, only seven kilometers east of New Market, but completely segregated from the city by the Bahaddarhat intersection, which has become infamous for traffic jam.

The Bahaddarhat intersection is both a curse and a blessing for CRA. Curse, because it potentially prevents Chandgaon from developing into a busy urban area, and, blessing, because, it has, thus, forced a sedate lifestyle in the area. Sedate means, in CRA, life goes by the old rule: Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. The roads are tree-lined, and trees, big and small, routinely enclose the houses, thus making life a touch romantic here. In fact, in the morning your sleep is broken literally by the chirping of birds. Much to your surprise, you'll see more birds than crows in CRA. You'll smell the thick green of the trees, and no smoke or gas fume or stink will hit your nostrils.

CRA consists of two blocks, A and B. The A Block is triangular area, and houses are less formidable. But the B Block is a real vast area that has grown over many acres of land, consisting of 14 roads, two big fields, one big mosque, and 25 kindergarten schools. The main road heads off from the Arakan Road and enters CRA by keeping the Radio Tower Field on the right. This Radio Tower is a historic monument from where Major Zia read out the declaration of independence on behalf of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on April 26, 1971.

The houses in the B Block are massive, mostly ten-flat five-storied buildings with car space and strong security measures. In the making of the buildings, however, the same greed for over-occupation of land can be noticed, as very little space is left in between two neighbouring buildings. The office of the Chittagong Education Board is, oddly enough, located in one of the very big buildings on Road 13, though many think that it should be shifted to a more business-minded area of the city.

The fields on the north are open bordering on the receding villages. School children play games here every afternoon, while health-seeking elderly people keep to their morning or evening walk on the roads surrounding the fields. On Road 10, there is some kind office of the postal department on the edge of a ditch, occupying some area that strangely is full of big trees nowhere to be found in the city.