MIRSARAI, Feb 25 (UNB): It is wonderful. Many call it the second Foy's Lake, but lack of maintenance of its infrastructures and inadequate security measures for visitors are destroying all the prospects Mohamaya Lake has.
Three years have elapsed since the Prime Minister inaugurated the scenic hillside lake in the upazila, but its embankments are still full of potholes simply for lack of maintenance.
More worrying is the muscle flexing by local goons. They are running a chain of slums in the area, creating a serious security concern for the visitors, said officials and locals.
At present, the lake attracts around 7,000 visitors a month and the number doubles during special occasions like Eid and Pahela Baishakh.
On December 29, 2010, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the dam of the lake on completion of the Mohamaya Lake and Irrigation Project that started in 2006-07 fiscal year.
The project implementing authority - Ministry of Water Resource and Bangladesh Water Development Board - concluded the project without setting up two electricity regulators to produce electricity from hydropower as per the plan.
The roads that were constructed in the lake area dilapidated within a year, while the plans such as providing streetlights and the overall security at site have are yet to be completed.
The project plan also included repair of an approach road from the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway, digging a 45-kilometer canal, constructing a rubber dam and setting up a hydroelectricity power plant, which have not yet been completed.
Situated two kilometers east of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway and also six kilometers within the Mirsarai upazila headquarters, the lake has immense natural qualities to attract nature-lovers and pastime-makers of the country and abroad.
The project constructed a 200-metre dam that turned the lake into a placid landscape of crystal-clear water, green-hills and bare sky.
Local people have long been demanding the construction of a link-road from the highway to Mohamaya, - 'a haven of pristine beauty', as well as the construction of hotels and motels to develop the area as a tourist spot, with hopes that it will contribute towards boosting the local economy.
Talking to UNB, Mirsarai Upazial Nirbahi Officer Mhummad Ashraf Hossain said the uncompleted works of the project will be finished soon.
A picturesque lake that\\\'s left neglected
FE Team | Published: February 26, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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