Khulna finally to have memorial

13 December 2009, 17:00 PM

Staff Correspondent; Khulna

Construction work on an independence memorial at Gallamari in Khulna City under the supervision of Khulna Zila Parishad finally began on December 1. Decision to build an independence memorial on three acres of land at Gallamari was taken by the ministry concerned on May 22 in 2007. Tenders were invited on June 23 last year for building the memorial at a cost of Tk 4 crore. A construction firm of Khulna named Azad Elora has got work order as the lowest bidder on November 15 this year. It is being built in memory of those who laid down their lives for liberation of Bangladesh and also in fulfilment of the long felt desire of freedom fighters in particular and the people of Khulna in general, KCC Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque said. The government has so far allocated Tk 2.16 crore for this project which is expected to be completed by May next year, the mayor said, adding that the LGRD and Cooperatives Ministry will provide the rest of the fund. Gallamari has been chosen for building the memorial as bodies of hundreds of innocent men and women, killed by Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators, were dumped here. Members of Rajakar, Al Badr and Al Shams assisted Pakistan army in the killings at different torture centers set up in the city during the War of Independence and dumping the bodies at Gallamari, which was then a marshy land.