<i>BR felling an old 'useless and dangerous' tree</i>
Workers continue cutting this hundred and fifty years old rain tree near Jessore rail station as railway authorities has sold it out to a bidder.Photo: STAR
Labourers employed by the bid winner have started felling a hundred and fifty years old rain tree in front of Jessore railway station as authorities of Bangladesh Railway (BR) has sold it through a tender. The BR official records showed the tree as 'useless and dangerous for movement of trains'. But the tree is more than one hundred yards away from the rail line and so, the question of its being dangerous for train movement does not arise, locals said. "I have legally purchased the rain tree for Tk 3 lakh 50 thousand, being the highest bidder in a tender arranged by Rajshahi divisional office of Bangladesh Railway," said Ashrafuzzaman, hailing from Naldanga village under Kaliganj upazila of Jhenidah district, also a local leader of the ruling party. Labourers employed by Ashrafuzzaman started cutting the tree branches on Wednesday morning. The tree was sold through a tender process by the divisional office of BR, said Mashiul Islam, senior assistant engineer of Jessore Railway. Engineer Masudur Rahman of the divisional office of BR said that he had issued work order to fell the tree upon recommendation from the office of general manager. "I remember seeing people take rest under the shade of this large rain tree since my childhood," said centenarian Khadija Khatun.
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