"We decided to finish the work as the open space in the park has been blocked by construction materials for long causing inconvenience to people," said Reazul Karim, State Minister of Liberation War Affairs.

However, a senior official of the Liberation War Affairs stopping the work in middle of the project was a political decision.

The project includes an underground museum, tower, a pool, Shikha Chirantan, an open theatre, a fountain and a wall named 'janata wall.'

The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs has made a curtailed revised plan for the project.

"The objective is to project the actual history of Liberation War by constructing the integrated monument," Karim said.

The construction work of Swadhinata Stambha started in July 1998 with a budget of Tk 81.27 crore by then Awami League government to uphold the memory of the Liberation War. Later, a 150-feet high glass tower costing around Tk 67 crore was added to plan pushing the cost to Tk 171 crore. Initially, the name of the monument was 'Bijoy Stambha' and later it was changed to 'Swadhinata Stambha'.

However, the cabinet committee on purchase approved the revised project proposal dropping the glass tower component and curtailing the costing to Tk 76 crore on November 21 this year.

“If the purchase committee had granted approval earlier, the work would have already been underway,” said the state minister.

When the coalition government came to power, it stopped the work alleging irregularities in 2001.

Officials and labourers were seen gathering around the site again. Two floors of the three-storey underground museum were submerged under stagnant rainwater. Some labourers were pumping out water to restart construction. The site office and the adjoining areas were being cleaned.

The 20-acre construction area is sprawled over the 67-acre park, one of the largest open spaces in the city.

"Initially, we didn't find any gross damage caused from the long stoppage of work," said project director Reazul Karim.

"Now we are planning to construct a 100-feet high tower at a cost of Tk 1.75 crore instead of the 150-feet high glass tower that will save a huge amount of money," said the project director. He added that an expert committee would decide what type of materials would be used for the tower.

However, the firm that planned the glass tower, Urbana, feels that the government should not change the original plan.

"We planned a living tower. The look of it would change during the day and at night it would light up from within and work as the major source of light for the monument. Any change in the plan would undermine the significance of the project," said Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury of Urbana.