Don’t want dev at cost of trees

The locals are protesting against Dhaka South City Corporation's move to fell trees in the name of infrastructure development and beautification works at Saat Masjid Road in Dhanmondi.

They held a human chain yesterday in front of Dhanmondi's  Abahani field under the banner of Saat Masjid Sarak Gach Rokkha Andolan (Movement to save trees on Saat Masjid Road).

The trees are being cut  from Jigatala to near the Abahani playground under a Tk 9.62 crore project, aiming to develop different infrastructures, including the beautification of islands, footpaths and road medians, and the construction of public toilets, under DSCC.

The project, which commenced on September 20, 2022, is scheduled to be completed by June 30, 2023.

DSCC has cut over 600 trees under this project, including 20-25-year-old Banyan trees. They have also started cutting trees on Mirpur Road, said  Amirul Rajiv, one of the organisers of the movement.

The Daily Star has also independently verified that DSCC is cutting trees on Mirpur Road as part of the same project.

Sharif Jamil, general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, said, "If the authority wants, they can do this development by protecting all the trees. But, they didn't. We demand that DSCC cease felling trees. Otherwise, we'll plan a larger movement."

Besides, Brotee Bangladesh, a non-government organisation, issued a memorandum to the secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, as well as the CEO of DSCC, expressing concerns over this issue.

Sharmeen Murshid, chief executive officer of Brotee, said the residents of Dhanmondi do not oppose development but are opposed to the destruction of the environment and tree felling in the name of development.

Contacted, DSCC chief engineer Saleh Ahmed said, "The geometric dimension of the space requires that we double the size of the medians. In our plan, we have kept designated spaces to plant new trees on these medians."