Government raises National Botanical Garden entry fee fivefold to Tk 100

The government has raised the entry fee for the National Botanical Garden in Dhaka’s Mirpur fivefold to Tk 100 from Tk 20 per person.

The new fee takes effect on Thursday.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change announced the entry fee hike in a circular on April 21.

According to the circular, the new fee per visitor aged over 12 years old is Tk 100 per person, while it is Tk 50 for children under 12 years.

An educational institution visiting with advance permission will be charged Tk 1,000 for a group of 100 and Tk 1,500 for a group larger than 100, including researchers, the circular says.

Foreign tourists will pay Tk 1,000 or an equivalent amount in US dollars. Regular visitors exercising in the garden must obtain an annual card for Tk 500, which allows for an hour-long visit, it adds.

Previously, Prothom Alo reported, no fees were required for physical exercise.

Director of the National Botanical Garden Shaukat Imran Arafat was quoted by the Bangla daily as saying that the finance ministry decided the fee increase.

Bangladesh Institute of Planners President Adil Muhammad Khan called the fee increase unjust and demanded an immediate rollback.

"It is unacceptable to charge Tk 100 for entry when there should be free access to the garden," he was also quoted by the same Bangla-language daily.