Sheikh Russell Memorial Children Park now a chicken farm

The mini zoo in Shaheed Sheikh Russell Memorial Municipal Children’s Park, Sirajganj is being used as a chicken farm, which spoils the natural beauty of the park for the visitors.

The park is built on the banks of the Jamuna River in Sirajganj Sadar upazila. It is popular among visitors of all ages and gets especially crowded in the afternoon.

Especially during Eid, Puja and other holidays, the park is crowded with people of all ages from all over the district. Students from nearby educational institutions visit it regularly after class to play.

According to the authorities, the park is open daily from 9am to 8pm and the entry fee is Tk 20 per person.

There are various tourist attractions at the theme park, including a Ferris wheel, a scenic train ride, a magic carpet ride, paddle boats, and a carousel.

The park also includes beautiful sculptures of various animals and birds, which add to its beauty. This correspondent found visitors taking pictures with the sculptures during an on-site visit.

The park also has a mini zoo. Various species of birds, pigeons, snakes and other animals are kept there.

But recently the zoo cages have been turned into chicken and cow farms, ruining the environment of the park. The visitors are especially bothered by the strong stench of chicken droppings and cow dung. The number of visitors to the park has started to decrease due to this.

A visitor, Afifa Sultana of Hossainpur village, said she sometimes comes to the park with her children. At the far end, there are several chicken farms that cause a terrible stench.

“I expect the municipal authorities to remove the smelly chicken farm from the park and create a beautiful environment for children to play again,” she said.

Tofazzal Hossain, a resident of Sirajganj city, said, “I used to visit the park in the evening regularly. Walking around amid the greenery is very enjoyable.”

But he does not visit the park as much anymore due to the smell of chicken farm and various animal excrements.

Naimul Islam, a student of BL High School, said the park is close to his school and he used to visit it every day after school.

“We cannot enjoy ourselves in the park anymore. It is also hard to walk past it due to the strong stench,” he said.

Some local residents and an employee of the park said on condition of anonymity that the farm belongs to an influential person in the area.

The visitors are suffering because of the stench of the chicken and cow farm excrements. Therefore, the number of visitors has started to decrease.

When asked about this, Sirajganj Municipality (Panel Mayor-1) Md Nurul Haque and Municipal Mayor Syed Abdur Rauf Mukta said some birds and foreign chicken are kept in the park and children love watching them.

In response to a question, he said no one has the permission to commercially farm chicken or anything else inside the park. He said they would probe the matter and take action if such allegations are found to be true in the investigation.