Zinda Park: Rural Community Eco-park Complex in Bangladesh

Abstract

The rural and natural areas are diminishing with the flow of urbanization. Villages are being turned into metropolitan areas. The case focuses on Zinda Park rural community eco-park complex which is located near the capital, Dhaka, close to Purbachal which is a government project of Rajdani Unnayan Kartripakka (RAJUK). With the wave of development, the Zinda village where the park is located along with the other surrounding villages is affected by urbanization. The park was built with the motive of social welfare and the development of the livelihood of the local people. The article discusses how the community works and helps the society by sharing a certain portion of revenue generated from the park. Its aim is to save the environment by developing the social condition of the villagers and this was achieved through the strong determination of the founder(s). RAJUK has been trying to acquire the park along with the village with the purpose of development; however, the locals have voiced strong protest against it. This article also explains how the Zinda community eco-park complex survived these difficulties with help of the villagers and other stakeholders.

Keywords

Bangladesh Zinda Park RAJUK Ogropathik Palli Samity social development environment eco-park community stakeholders

A healthy community is a form that includes all the local things that are connected by the larger, ultimately mysterious form of the Creation. In speaking of community, then, we are speaking of a complex connection not only among human beings or between humans and their homeland but also between human economy and nature, between forest or prairie and field or orchard, and between troublesome creatures and pleasant ones. All neighbors are included.

Wendell Berry The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays (2003, pp. 202–203)

Introduction

Zinda, the rural community eco-park complex (hereinafter referred to as Zinda Park) founded by five friends, who vowed to do something exemplary for the society, by turning the park into an ideal village. The founders realized that like other villages in Bangladesh, Zinda was losing its core referring to the social commitment of its inhabitants, as they were migrating away to the city in search of a better livelihood. This drain was causing the village to lose its nobility. Moreover, being so close to the capital of Bangladesh took its toll, with slow urbanization surrounding the village. This also became a threat as the village started to lose its environment and greenery, in essence its beauty.

Realizing this fact the visionary founders of Zinda Park, went around inspiring villagers that with their help and involvement, the situation could be turned around and the community can help itself. The idea was to turn the village into an ideal one, where everyone benefits from its establishments, such as a school, a library, a clinic, a mosque, an eco-park and many more, managed and run by the local, generating its own income. The villagers in support of this idea donated land which now constitutes as Zinda Park. Along with this motive, the villagers also wanted to protect the environment from the flow of urbanization. Hence, this is another ground to support the community and make their village a symbol of rural development. All the activities of Zinda Park help to create unity among its villagers and villagers of surrounding villages.

Zinda Community Complex

Zinda, the rural community eco-park complex is situated in Narayanganj (see Exhibit 1), the central district of Bangladesh. The district is enclosed on the west by Dhaka District with a total area of 684.37 sq. km. The total riverine area of it is about 111.46 sq. km. It consists of 5 upazilas (Araihazar, Bandar, Narayanganj Sadar, Rupganj and Sonargaon), 41 unions¹ and 1,204 villages (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2013). The park is located in the North-East part of the district. It is in the Rupganj Upazila which is 37 km away from the capital of Dhaka City and is situated beside the Dhaka Eastern bypass road. The total area of the upazila is 176.48 sq. km, of which 45.00 sq. km is riverine area. There are 7 unions combining 285 villages, among which the park is in Daudpur Union. The population of the upazila is 535,000 (280,000 male and 255,000 female), giving a population density of 3,031 per sq. km. The literacy rate of the union is 54.8 per cent (2011). The majority of the people of the upazila are Muslim (506.423), about 28,179 are Hindu and 398 follow other religions (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2013). There are total 8 common squares in Rupganj, among which one is Zinda Park. Along with that there are total 33 primary schools (both registered and non-registered). Additionally, total 26 community clinics are located in this upazila. Zinda Park is in Daudpur Union of Rupganj Upazila (see Exhibit 2). The total area of the Daudpur Union is 6,880 acres with a total of 58 villages that surround the union with a combined population of 53,683 (28,065 male and 25,618 female). There are 5 community clinics located in the union and one of the clinics is located inside Zinda Park. In addition, there are over a 100 mosques and one of them is directed by the park. The park was named after the village, Zinda where it is located. The park was established in the early 1980s. The committee started to develop the park, starting their journey by building the committee office and school. The park initially started with an area of 1.32 acres of land which now has risen to 33 acres of land.

An Inspirational Journey of Founder(s)

Mr Tobarok Hossain Kusom, the founder, is a visionary. He has contributed and dedicated his whole life to the park. Mr Kusom only studied up to secondary school at a local missionary school. Even though he is a high school dropout, the schooling he received in the missionary school had a major impact in his life. The discipline that he received and the environment of his upbringing inspired and enabled him to dream and give something back to the society. He envisioned turning his village around into an ideal one that would provide numerous facilities to its inhabitants.

Mr Kusom shared his ideas with four of his school friends, Mohd Nasir Uddin Kazi, Mohd Sahadat Hossain Akand, Mahbubul Alam Kazi and Mohd Tabarak Hossain Akand. These five teenage minds in Bangladesh looked beyond the mundane and seclusion by starting to work together towards their shared goal. The founders shared their ideas by writing letters to the local heads asking them to join, who did not give any encouraging response. Even Mr Kusom’s father who was a government employee, did not admire his son’s ideas at the time; however, later he realized the nobility of the work and supported him. Thus, defying all odds the founders today have committed themselves to a lifelong service above and beyond for the betterment of the community that they were born into. Though the park was started by five founders, today more community people are involved with the park, who have also devoted their life to its development.

Ogropathik Palli Samity: Inception of the Vision

With this motive of social welfare, the founders’ formed a small association named ‘Augnibina Students Forum’ at the beginning of the journey. After five years of Augnibina’s operation, they changed the name and turned it into the big committee named Ogropathik Palli Samity. The starting capital of the Samity was BDT 60, based on microcredit policy with interest. However, later in line with Islamic view, the scheme was changed from interest to a share from the profit. Now, there exists three types of membership; the admission fees vary from BDT 100 to BDT 500 to join the committee and the deposit amount is BDT 5,000 from which each year the members receive a certain amount as earnings. If any member wants to leave, the committee returns the deposit to the member.

The Samity was registered under the Somaj Kollan Adidaptor² (Department of Social Services) in 1981. In 1984 work on the infrastructure of the park began, starting initially with only the community office and later on in late 1990 the school building was constructed. As the main objective of the community was social development and the vision of providing proper education to the people, the founder Mr Kusom alone donated his inherited 19.80 acres land to this park. Apart from Mr Kusom, the other members of the committee and the villagers donated another 13.2 acres of land to the park.

The family members of the committee—the Samity—are also engaged in helping with the development of the park.

Role of Ogropathik Palli Samity within the Zinda Community Complex and Beyond

Almost every year the committee donates a certain amount of money for social welfare. Generally this amount is in between the figure of BDT 0.5 million, of which 2.5 per cent goes to the development of the places of worship of different religions, divided between eight mosques and a Hindu temple in the village. A certain portion of that amount is allocated for the Hindu temples. A percentage of the total donation is also given to the school to cover its administrative and welfare costs. Academic scholarships are provided using these funds to the underprivileged and meritorious students. A portion of this money is also used in conserving the environment by reforesting around the village. In 2006 the Samity won the first national prize in tree plantation in Bangladesh.

Moreover, a certain portion of the profit goes towards the victims of natural disasters such as river erosions, floods, etc. and to needy villagers, especially on occasions of Eid and marriage. The donations mainly come from the income of the park. Each year the committee helps one of the employees of the park for the betterment of their living standards especially for the purpose of building their own house in the village. It is estimated that from its inception till 2015 the total amount donation given by the community for social development is around BDT 10 million.

Value-based Education System

Value-based education is the finest way of building humanity and honesty in a person. It provides better citizens to the society. It also teaches ethical, moral, social, spiritual and many more values to the people which help them become better human beings. The ultimate goal of such education is to bring out the good in people of the society.

Social welfare is the main motivation of Ogropathik Palli Samity. With this motive, the committee built a school for the village children so that they can receive proper education and grow into adults with good values. Thus the committee has planned to provide quality education to these children and hence, they have also built a public library and a college within the park.

School

The school was first housed in a tin shade structure over two decades, which was named as ‘Little Angels’ Seminary’. The park is now housed in a 0.66 acre of land with a stunning brick façade eco-building with a perfect ventilation structure in the design of every classroom for enough light and air, minimizing the consumption of electricity (see Exhibit 3). Mr Kusom has donated BDT 10 million to the school alone. The school was designed by Mr Sayedul Hasan Rana³ who is the chief architect of the park. The building was completed in 2012, with a big lush green field to enhance the beauty. There are total 10 classrooms, teaching from grade I to IX, with over 200 students and 15 teachers including the headmaster.

College

The committee is building a college for secondary education to higher secondary. The infrastructure is almost built, and is expected to run by 2018. It will house lectures for students of classes IX to XII. The committee plans to shift class IX from the school to the college when it starts operation. The college has a total area of 0.66 acre of land.

Library

The library will be open to the public from 2017. It will operate as a reference library within Zinda Park. The total area for library is around 0.33 acre (see Exhibit 4). The construction of the library cost over BDT 12 million of which Mr Abu Saddat Sayem, a wealthy villager from Zinda, contributed for more than half.

Space Segmentation of Zinda Community Complex

Greenery

Natural areas give people a different touch of life and people seek authentic, inspiring and transformational experiences in nature (Ferreira & Harmse, 2014). Eco-park is an amusement park which is built without damage to the natural environment. Moreover, the bio-diversity remains unaffected at that concerned area. Usually an existing management monitors all the activities of the park. There are over 20,000 trees of more than 100 different kinds of species. Most of the trees are medicinal.

The protection and preservation of flora and fauna in that park is the main concern of that management. Sometimes forests which have special natural features are considered as an eco-park. Besides the beauty of nature, the efforts to attract and entertain the visitors are also visible in the eco-park. The other purposes to set up eco-park are for breeding and developing the local species of flora through the management, environment protection and socio-economic development of the local people. The eco-park also helps to increase the public awareness about the necessity of bio-diversity.

The committee tries to fulfill the demand of an ideal village without harming bio-diversity of the village. With this aim they constructed Zinda Park. In addition, the committee has built some other infrastructures that not only attract the visitors with its natural beauty, but also enhance the beauty of the park.

Artificial Lakes

Five artificial lakes surround the park as a boundary. Three sides of the park are enclosed by these lakes (see Exhibit 5). Among these five lakes, two are used for fishery. The committee has prohibited fishing in these lakes, except during the event of Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year’s day). As a celebration the fishes caught from the lakes are distributed amongst the local villagers.

Community Clinic

There is a small community clinic which is operated by the government by assigning community health workers and by providing medicines and other facilities. However, the land for the clinic was provided by Zinda Park. It is the only community clinic of the village. Moreover, it is a free clinic which is open to all members of the community and the general public.

Open Area

There is an open area in the park (see Exhibit 6) to celebrate different occasions by the villagers. Every year the committee arranges fair on Pohela Boishakh with the help of the villagers. The shopkeepers of the village set their stalls in the premises. The fair is open to all. The entry is free to the villagers, but outsiders have to pay entry fee. People from different places take part in the fair and relish the festivity, tasting a bit of the true Bengali culture. There is also a banyan tree beside the fair premises where the committee arranges Baul Sangeet (Bangla folk songs) in Pohela Boishakh.

Mosque and Graveyard

A mosque with a beautiful architecture designed by the founder of the park is located inside the park (see Exhibit 7). It has been designed with rare terracotta collected from different parts of Bangladesh. There is also an Eid-gah in front of the mosque, which can house about 400 to 500 devotees for the morning prayer during the two Eid festivals. The total area for mosque and Eid-gah is around 0.99 acre.

There is a graveyard nearby the mosque. People who have contributed their life to the park, along with their family members, as well as underprivileged villagers get the right to be buried in that graveyard. The area of the graveyard is around 0.495 acre. A memorial beside the mosque has been constructed to honour the freedom fighters of Liberation War in 1971.

Sources of Revenue for Social Development Activities

Zinda Park was not established as a profit-driven business, but rather for social welfare. On an average, around 80–100 people visit the park every day. They are charged BDT 100 per person as entry fee. The committee uses this money for the development of the park.

There is a tea stall for refreshment and a car parking facility within the park for visitors. Ogropathik Palli Samity rents these out to the villagers on an annual basis. They also provide utility facilities to the tea stall. Every year the committee gets around BDT 0.1 million from car parking and BDT 5,000 from tea stall as rent. Private cars and micro buses are charged a parking fee of BDT 50 whereas motor cycles and three wheelers are charged BDT 25.

Cottages

As Zinda Park is an eco-park, most of the building materials for the cottages has been sourced naturally (see Exhibit 8). The cottages are made with mud and straw. It provides an authentic feel of rural life to visitors. These cottages are rented out to visitors, costing between BDT 3,000 and 5,000 per night depending on the demand. A new cottage has been commissioned by the committee, designed by the same architect who designed the Little Angels’ Seminary School.

There is also a picnic spot available for rent which can accommodate around 150 people. If food is prepared onsite then each person is charged with a fee of BDT 150 or more depending on the menu selected; however, if prepared food is brought in by the visitors then a fee of BDT 25 is charged per person.

Canteen

There is a canteen for the visitors as well. This is divided into two sections—a restaurant and a snack bar. Their wide menu consists of finger foods to proper meals covering breakfast to dinner and facilities to cater for 150 people. The canteen is leased out and is operated by the people of the village. Every evening members of the committee dine together in the canteen.

The community owns two vehicles-a microbus and a pickup van, which are used for different purposes as per the need.

The Management of Zinda Community Complex

Zinda Park tries to engage their employers, visitors and the members with the activities of the park. Members are encouraged to develop new strategies and implement those strategies for the wellbeing of the park. The community has set some core values which are encouraged to follow by each and every individual of the park. The members are responsible for monitoring and evaluating the process regularly and reporting its outcome. Additionally, there are working policies and work classifications for these members and employees which ensure effective operation of the community.

Election System

Ogropathik Palli Samity has an election system to select the 18 management personnel, Among these 18 positions, 10 are in legislative department, 5 are in rule and order department and 3 are in judicial department of the committee. All committee members go through performance based evaluation every two years and the bottom six members on the list have to give up their positions. These positions are open to all general members who can seek nomination and run for them. For this, the selection is done by holding elections where all committee members have voting rights. Committee members have the opportunity to leave their position whenever they want, in which case nomination and election for a new committee is sought.

Working Policies

A clear defined and communicating idea among the proponent organization is a significant step in later evaluation and monitoring (Krick, Forstater, Monaghan, & Sillanpää, 2005). The members of the committee conduct daily meetings in the morning and monitor the park throughout the day to ensure timely operations. Afterwards in the evening, all the members gather again to debrief and address the issues they faced during the day. Furthermore, the tasks and schedules for the following day are decided.

Departmental Work Classification and Activities

The community is divided into six different departments. These are central department, maintenance department, educational department, agro-department, entertainment department and business and hospitality department. Though the departments are cross-functional, they work independently. The central department monitors the financial activities (revenue, expenses, etc.) of the park. The maintenance division ensures the overall activities related to the park (cleanliness, canteen, visitors, picnic arrangements, etc.). Similarly, the educational department monitors all the educational activities (school, library, etc.), the agro department monitors the plantation and environmental sector, the entertainment department monitors the cottages, different functions in different occasions and arranges different activities for the committee members. Lastly, the business and hospitality department oversees all business and activities related to guests who come to the park with different motives.

There is a managing director who is selected amongst the committee members by the other members. The tenure of this managing director is two years, after which the incumbent has to leave his position. Apart from the managing director, there are six other directors who manage the six different departments. Each director has four to six staff members who are assigned to carry out the tasks of the relevant departments. However, one department may call in staff assigned to other departments if extra set of hands are required. Apart from the 18 elected members, the committee has a few honorary members who are not directly involved with the day-to-day activities of the community but work as advisors for the welfare of the park.

There is a unique regulation in the committee that each and every member monitors the work of others, and each member has to report to the committee on other members. When a member fails to report then they are required to provide reason for the failure. If the committee finds malpractice or negligence on a member’s part, appropriate disciplinary actions are taken against the said member and/or the member is fined.

The Conflict with RAJUK⁴

Purbachal New Town⁵ is one of the biggest planned township of RAJUK in Bangladesh, consisting of 6,150 acres of land located between Shitalakhya and Balu River at Rupganj Upazila of Narayanganj and at Kaligonj Upazila of Gazipur District. When the project was implemented in 1995, RAJUK started acquiring land from the adjoining areas. As Zinda Park is situated in Rupganj Upazila next to the Purbachal New Town Project, RAJUK authority desired to acquire the park to merge the two together. Nevertheless, the Zinda Park authority did not foresee such a decision and therefore, was unprepared.

The Conflict from the Perspective of RAJUK

As a government agency, RAJUK holds the right to acquire any place for the purpose of urban planning and development according to the government rules and regulations. With the stream of acquiring, the authority wanted to take Zinda Park under its belt and give the management of the park to a third party.

The Conflict from the Perspective of Zinda Community Complex

The conflict arose when RAJUK authorities wanted to acquire the park and takeover its management. With this purpose, in 2008, the authority served a notice. This would have led to the displacement of numerous families and elimination of their source of income generated through the park (Rahman, 2014). Due to the villagers’ emotional attachment, especially as they had donated land for the park, the community did not agree with RAJUK’s decision. Complaints were lodged, arguing that the management of the park should be left with the community as they have founded it. Due to the Pressure created by the locals and the environment activists, RAJUK was forced to drop the plan for acquiring this land (Siddique, 2014).

Movements and Consequence of the Conflict of Both Actors

On 10 March 2008, RAJUK issued a letter to Zinda Park authority asking to remove all physical infrastructures within 10 days. An eviction drive was to be carried out to dismantle all alleged illegal structures inside the park (Internal Documents, Letter to Mr Tobarok Hossain Kusom from the RAJUK, Zinda Park, 2008). It was also alleged, in 2008, that RAJUK tried to handover the title of the park to different organizations and the influential quarters. In such a situation, local people and environmental activists put a barricade and brought out a procession protesting RAJUK’s move and urged the authority to cancel the initiative.

After few years, on 17 January 2011, RAJUK again circulated a lease tender to the public without that committee members’ acknowledgement. Upon notice, the committee sought redress from the High Court⁶ (High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh) in the form of an injunction. However, the agency in complete disregard to the order of the High Court, again proposed another tender. The Court then took the matter in its own hands and issued another stay order against RAJUK.

On 29 August 2011, RAJUK again issued a letter to the local administration saying that it would carry on an eviction drive to dismantle illegal structures inside the park on 8 September 2011 (The New Age, 2011).

In 2014, RAJUK came to Zinda Park long with the police to evict the committee. It was planning to acquire it and build a park for the future residents of the area. However, the committee members and the villagers disputed the action. One of the initiators of Zinda Park, Ogropathik Palli Samity, also filed a Writ petition (1730 of 2014) with the High Court when RAJUK attempted again to evacuate the locals from the park (The News Today, 2014). The Writ Petition was filed before the High Court Division with the following prayer:

To issue a Rule Nisi calling upon the respondents to show cause as to why any act or attempt of respondent No. 8 (Project Director, Purbachal New Town Project, RAJUK) purporting to lease out the Park originally named after village ‘Zinda’ located at Rupganj of Narayanganj to any 3rd party stranger without first offering the same to the petitioners as contemplated under section 101(2)⁷ of the Town Improvement Act, 1953 should not be declared as malafide, ultra vires and void abinitio; and why the respondent should not be directed to grant lease of the same to the petitioners as under the scheme of the law pursuant to section 101(2) of the Town Improvement Act, 1953.

On 26 February 2014, the above mentioned Writ Petition was moved before a Division Bench of the High Court Division comprising Ms Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Mr Justice Md. Habibul Gani; on perusal of records and on hearing the counsels their Lordships were pleased to issue a Rule as per the prayer above mentioned. The above Rule is now pending for disposal before the High Court Division.

Ogropathik Palli Samity and other activists alleged that litigation was pending at the High Court regarding the intended takeover of the park by RAJUK, but it was trying to take possession (on 3 April 2014) even before the announcement of the verdict (Dhaka Tribune, 2014; The Independent, 2014). Later, RAJUK reached in a consensus to handover Zinda Park under the management by Ogropathik Palli Samity. Some plots of the park are bought by the government, but these are bought to the name of the park. Government has compensated some villagers who gave their lands to the park. As the founder has donated a huge amount of land to the park, he got some compensation amount also. Mr Tobarok Hossain Kusom, the founder of the Ogropathik Palli Samity said:

We founded this park. We had prayed to RAJUK to either derequisition the land of the park or handover the park to us. But RAJUK leased it out to a third party instead. (The Independent, 4 April 2014)

Sustainability and Challenges for Zinda Community Complex

Stakeholders comprise of nearby communities or individuals as well as their formal and informal representatives, local authorities, civil society organizations and groups who hold special interest (IFC, 2007). Similarly, the stakeholders of Zinda Park consist of the local villagers, neighboring communities, government and non-government organizations and other interest groups. These stakeholders are engaged in various activities involving the park.

Around 5,000 villagers are involved with this park. Along with the villagers of Zinda, other surrounding villages have acted as a rural community for the well-being of the park. They raised their voice in the legal battle with the RAJUK authority. Some external groups like BAPA⁸ (Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon) and POBA⁹ (Poribesh Bachao Andolon) are also involved with it (see Exhibit 9). In addition to this, the community also proposes honoree membership to the individuals who are well-wishers of the park. This relationship works mutually, as both the individual and the park benefit from such relationships.

Stakeholder Engagements and Participations

The engagement of stakeholders refers to an agenda of polices and principles which make sure that stakeholders have the opportunity to engage themselves in decision-making process that will affect them or in which they have an interest (Yee, 2010). This process should lead decisions which include complete information, anticipating and improving unexpected upcoming negative outcomes (Fischer, 2000; Koontz & Thomas, 2006). At the time of conflict with RAJUK, the stakeholders were informed by the community to understand the problem with RAJUK, opportunities and solution of this conflict. Then they consulted with the well-known individuals and other environmental interest groups (i.e., BAPA, POBA) to analyze the situation. The community collaborated all the aspects and empowered the stakeholders in the final decision. The participation of stakeholders in a decision increases public trust, if the decision-making process is transparent and consider claims and views (Richards, Carter, & Sherlock, 2004). Stakeholders’ engagement leads to a qualitative decision. It also leads to long term support from the society and active implementation of decisions.

Going Forward

Zinda Park is as the bridge between the rural and urban areas. A planned city, Purbachal New Town is located in one side of the park, whereas the native villages are located on the other side of it. This park can be replicable to other areas where the villages are turned into urbanization. In addition, this is also applicable for the low cultivation areas. In the midst of senseless capitalism and resulting pollution, the eco-park is a space of solace through which communities get the chance to embrace nature. Zinda Park is an exemplary and respectable concept for saving the nature along with the social well-being. More so, not only does it look into the environment, it becomes a viable project as it also takes into account the community needs, expand through revenue generation so that they could diversify the park with other elements of eco-park. In case of the legal battle of Zinda Park, it is assumed that there will not be any further procedures on this issue. In addition, many local people are connected now with the park. It seems, all these issues reflect a sustainable and bright future of Zinda Park!

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Mr Tobarok Hossain Kusom (founder), Mr Mohd Nasir Uddin Kazi (co-founder), Mr Mohd Sahadat Hossain Akand (co-founder), Mr Mahbubul Alam Kazi (co-founder), Mr Mohd Tobarok Hossain Akand (co-founder), and Mr Md. Zakir Hossain, Mr Mansurer Rahman Kajal, Mr Abdullah Al-Shahin of the Ogropathik Palli Samity for their cooperation with remarks, insights, inputs and thoughts during the preparation of this case.

Also thanks to Mr Shaheen Ahmed, Barrister-at-Law (Head of Chambers) of the Shaheen Ahmed & Associates, for his inputs during the preparation of this of case study sub-section of ‘Movements and Consequence of the Conflict of Both Actors’.

Appendix

Notes

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