Buckland Bund

Buckland Bund is a historically significant architectural creation situated by the Buriganga river bank of Old Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was constructed by Charles Thomas Buckland in 1864 who was the commissioner of Dhaka during that period. Mr Buckland is the commission of Dhaka who took the initiative to build a metal road over it.

In 1864, to protect the shore from flooding and erosion, to prevent the formation of great mud flats at low tide, and to facilitate the movement of passenger and cargo at the river wharf. Buckland launched a scheme to construct an embankment along the southern front of the city. He also planned a promenade behind the bund to beautify the waterfront and provide a pleasure walk.

Buckland Bund was a place for recreation and passing time for local people not only in the 19th century but also in the beginning decades of the 20th century. It was a very attractive place to visit for the middle class local people of that time. Buckland Bund was a new gathering place for the people of Dhaka as the view of the river was an amazing piece of recreation for them. The crowd visiting the Buckland Bund at that time proved that it was a very refreshing place and even today after almost 300 years the place is still used as a social gathering place by the local people. The construction of the bund quickly transformed the area into a very posh place and a lot of landlords started to erect their mansions on and around this bund.

The current situation of Buckland bund is not something to write about proudly. During the reign of Ayub Khan, once the rights of the bund was transferred to the government from the public in 1963, the dam’s maintenance and beauty started to deteriorate and the bund that once was Dhaka’s pride and very dear, a place which was used as a source of recreation and entertainment has now lost all its glory and attraction under the government’s responsibility.