The City Corporation of Rajshahi has started the work of renovating around 100 year old tradition of Sonadighi.
The corporation has planned to build a city center, walkway, seating arrangement, open space, mosque, open stage and information technology library around the reservoir in the heart of the city with arrangements to view the lake from at least three directions. There will be lighting also in the Dighi premises at night.
Concerned people say that the beautiful lighting of the fountain will become an attractive recreation center of the city in the light of the night.
In addition to visitors, traders in the entire market area will also benefit.
The Sonadighi Mosque was shifted to the city center on September 16. Sonadighi has been opened by evicting mosques and illegal structures. Legal traders have been rehabilitated. Then began the demolition of unplanned old installations.
The lake was dug in 1927 by the then municipal authorities to supply potable water to the residents of the town. The water of this lake was used by the citizens for drinking and cooking.
However, construction of various structures around the lake started from the 1980s. The lake falls behind these unplanned installations. From then on, Sonadighi could no longer be seen from the road. It's a tradition to lose.
Awami League leader AHM Khairuzzaman Liton became the mayor of Rajshahi City Corporation for the first time in 2008 and took initiative to protect Sonadighi.
When the BNP leader lost the mayor election in 2013, his project to rescue Sonadighi came to a halt.
Khairuzzaman Liton again took over as the mayor and revived the protection project of the lake.
Mahbub Siddiqui, founder of the environmental organization Heritage-Rajshahi, said Sonadighi was dug for potable water hundreds of years ago.
"Once upon a time, Sonadighi was one of the entertainment centers. At that time, the area around Sonadighi was open. Its water was so clear that the locals used to cook with it."
Rajshahi municipality workers used to make sure that no one dumped dirt in the lake.
The lake, which is directly connected to the Padma, used to receive river water during the monsoon season. He said that when the muddy water of the river subsides, we could see clear water again.
The mayor of the corporation Khairuzzaman Liton said the newly constructed city center on the banks of the traditional Sonadighi will be the most beautiful modern multi-storey building in Rajshahi.
“Development and beautification work will be done centering on Sonadighi. Dighi will be rehabilitated and clear water will be provided. At the end of the work, Sonadighi will get back its tradition and its own uniqueness. ”
According to Rajshahi City Corporation sources, the mayor took the first initiative in 2009 to bring back the tradition of losing Sonadighi.
At that time, Rajshahi City Corporation entered into an agreement with a public-private partnership (PPP) with an organization called 'Ana Properties' to build a 16-storey 'city center' and decorate Sonadighi.
Although its work has progressed a little till 2013, it will be closed for the next five years. Liton, the son of Abul Hasnat Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, one of the four national leaders who was brutally murdered by some soldiers in prison in 1975, was reinstated as mayor for the second time on October 5, 2016.
It is expected that by 2021, all the decorations around Sonadighi will be finished.