CHATTOGRAM, Sept 26: The tourism sector here, as well as of the entire country, has been badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. All parks and entertainment centres remained closed since March 26. But these parks and other entertainment centres in the port city have been opened at a limited scale since the first week of September.
Meanwhile, the owners of parks and other tourism spots have demanded of the government to extend cooperation for the development of tourism industry in Chattogram.
The greater Chattogram has a tremendous prospect of a booming tourism industry but with the assistance of the government.
The port city of Chattogram, has a lot of tourist spots including Patenga Sea Beach, Parki Sea Beach, Foy's Lake and the distant areas in Cox's Bazar Sea Beach, St Martin's Island and a vast tract of land in the Hilly districts of Banderban, Rangamati, Khagracchari and Kaptai Lake.
Presently, the influx of Rohingya refugees into the country has become a threat to the tourist city of Cox's Bazar.
The authorities should take immediate steps to protect Cox's Bazar Sea Beach from the threat of the displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar. These picturesque tourist spots can attract a huge number of people from home and abroad if given proper attention to its beautification. These spots need a lot more hotels of international standard and security to the tourists as available in other tourist spots in the world. Usually during the long holidays in the country, a huge number of tourists from different parts of the country thronged the tourist town of Cox's Bazar and other places in Chattogram, including the Hill Tracts. The sea beach town buzzes with innumerable tourists. The hotels, guest houses, resorts, even the private guest houses of the local people are not enough to accommodate such a large numbers of holiday makers.
Places to visit in Chittagong include, Court Building, Chandanpura Mosque, Foy's Lake, World War II Cemetery, Patenga Beach, Ethnological Museum, Shrine of Shah Amanat, Zia Museum, and the Hill districts of Banderban, Rangamati, Khagracchari and Kaptai Lake. Of them some spots are worth mentionable. The World War II Cemetery is a well-preserved cemetery at a quiet and picturesque site where over 700 soldiers from the Commonwealth countries like Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Myanmar, East and West Africa are buried. The Dutch and the Japanese who also laid down their lives lie there amid the panoramic surroundings. It is an ideal spot for outings and picnics. The Foy's Lake has been created in the natural environment in 1924 at the initiative of the then Assam-Bengal Railway. This lake has been created by building a dam based on a plan by an English Engineer Mr Foy. The picturesque Foy's Lake is endowed with valleys and hills. The total area of the lake area is 3336.61 acres, of which 48.75 acres are water bodies. The Railway authority acquired the lake area in early twentieth century. The then civil engineer Mr Foy, created the lake by erecting an embankment there. Since then it was known as Foy's Lake. The picturesque artificial Foy's Lake created for supply of water to the Central Railway building and the Railway colonies in Chattogram has now been turned into an entertainment park buzzing with a huge numbers of visitors daily.
The Ethnological Museum is a unique treasure house of variety of tribal culture and heritage of Bangladesh which was established in the first half of nineteen sixties. The museum contains four galleries and a small hall in Agrabad. Patenga Beach is a sandy beach at the confluence of the roaring Bay of Bengal and the River Karnaphuli. Patenga beach is about 22 km from Chattogram and is connected by an asphalt road. On the way to the beach one passes the Patenga Airport. Another ideal picnic spot is the Fouzdarhat Sea Beach about 16 km from Chattogram.
The Hill Tracts is divided into four valleys surrounded by the Feni, Karnaphuli, Sangu (Sankhu) and Matamuhuri rivers and their tributaries. The ranges or hills of the Hill Tracts rise steeply thus looking far more impressive than what their height would imply and extend in long narrow ridges. The highest peaks on the northern side are Thangnang, Langliang and Khantiang while those on the southern side are Ramu, Taung, Keekradang, Tahjindong (4,632 ft, the highest in the country), Mowdok Mual, Rang Tlang and Mowdok Tlang. Famous Kaptai Lake, the largest 'man-made' lake, spreading over 680 sq km of crystal-clear water flanked by hills and evergreen forests lies in the Rangamati Hill District.
