<i>This time trees felled as per UNO's will</i>
L-R: A eucalyptus stump bears testimony to felling of the giant tree beside Hakimpur-Ghoraghat road a few days ago. Logs from trees felled without any valid procedure lie piled up on the premises of Hakimpur upazila office complex in Dinajpur district. The photo was taken yesterday.Photo: STAR
At least 30 trees beside Hakimpur-Ghoraghat road in Hakimpur upazila of the district have been cut down allegedly without any valid procedure. Logs of the trees, felled from May 15 to 19, remained piled up on the premises of the upazila nirbahi office complex and a nearby saw mill, locals said. The matter came to the fore when forest officials on Monday saw stumps of the felled trees on both sides of Hakimpur-Ghoraghat road at Chhatni village. The trees have been felled without any valid procedure, said Habib, a forest officer of Hakimpur upazila. According to the rule, authorities have to obtain permission from forest department and then invite tender to cut down trees on any government land. "I cut the trees marked by UNO Toffazal Hossain following permission from him," said log trader Md Azmal Hossain, who felled the 30 trees beside Hakimpur-Ghoraghat road. Hakimpur municipality Mayor Shakhwat Hossain Shilpi said, "I became surprised to learn that the trees were cut down without any procedure. The UNO office did not inform me anything in this regard although the trees are under the jurisdiction of municipality." Admitting the incident of cutting 30 roadside trees, Hakimpur upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Tofazzal Hossain said, "My office decided to fell 10 dead trees for public safety. The money earned by selling the logs will be used for development of Hakimpur Kindergarten, a school in the upazila." Md Monjur Hossain, confidential assistant of Hakimpur UNO office, filed a case against Md Azmal Hossain for felling additional trees in defiance of his direction, the UNO said, adding, "I also served a show cause notice to Kishod Chandra Roy, a peon of my office, in this regard." The peon, however, said that he did what his officer directed him to do. Surprisingly, the same UNO on February 22 this year, through a mobile court led by him, fined Tk 1.5 lakh to Md Nurul Islam, 40, of village Satni-Charmatha under Hakimpur municipality, for felling a roadside tree that he (Nurul Islam) had planted, said the penalised person. UNO Tofazzal Hossain, however, said it was a matter concerning a land dispute.
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