Protests fall on deaf ears
Bhueprint for felling roadside trees unchanged as workers continue to remove earth
Workers continue digging around the large trees beside the main road of Faridpur town as the contractor, employed by Roads and Highways Department, continues work to remove the trees. Photo: STAR
Work to remove old trees beside the main road in Faridpur town is going on in full swing despite protests from nature lovers as well as people from all walks of life. Workers of a contractor employed by the Roads and Highways Development (RHD) yesterday removed large chunks of earth from the bottom of around 50 large old trees on both sides of about half-kilometre road in Police Lines area, cut main roots of the trees and filled the ditches with sand. The act has been done as per a plan to cause death of the trees within a month or two when they can be removed automatically, locals said. The protesters yesterday launched a two-day signature campaign in the town urging not to fell the roadside trees as it will ruin greenery of the town. After the signature campaign, the protesters will file a suit with the court against RHD authorities in Faridpur as the tree roots were cut under the supervision of a contractor employed by the RHD, source said. Earlier on Wednesday night, a team of representatives from different sections of people met Faridpur Deputy Commissioner Helaluddin Ahmed and submitted a memorandum suggesting stoppage of indiscriminate tree felling in the name of extending roads. Prof Altaf Hossain, convener of Sachetan Nagorik committee, freedom fighter Abul Fayez Shah Newaz, Md Alauddin, cultural officer of Faridpur Shilpakala Academy, Mujibur Rahman, member of Nishorgo Sangsad, Azharul Islam, director of Faridpur Development Agency, advocate Shipra Goswami, coordinator of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Asma Akter Mukta, executive director of RACINE, playwright Munshi Mohammad Ali Rumi, Rafikuzzaman Layek, secretary of district unit of Communist Party of Bangladesh, were in the team. The deputy commissioner assured them that he will investigate whether the roots of old trees were cut without the approval of authorities concerned or without any auction. Asked about the matter, RHD Executive Engineer SM Shafiqul Alam yesterday told this correspondent, "Workers employed by contractor Mir Akter Hossain mistakenly cut the roots of several trees. We were totally unaware of it. We have warned the contractor not to fell any tree."
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