Around 2,379 roadside trees are being cut for the development work of the Tangail-Aricha highway. These include mango, berry, jackfruit, mahogany, banyan and numerous other old trees.

According to the Roads and Highway Department (RHD), the government has undertaken the project of expanding the highway which goes from Manikganj to Tangail. The highway directly links Mymensingh and Dhaka divisions.

The total cost of its implementation has been estimated at Tk 1,635 crore.

Aliul Hossain, executive engineer of Tangail RHD, said the work has already started, for which, the trees are being cut.

The arboriculture department has already sold the trees through tender, he added.

Meer Mukut Abu Saeed, executive officer of the arboriculture department, said 1,370 trees are being cut on the Delduar-Lauhati-Saturia road under the highway development project.

Their survey value was estimated at Tk 16,56,000. They were sold through tender for Tk 21,60,000.

On the other hand, 1,009 trees are being cut on the Aricha-Ghior-Daulatpur-Nagarpur road under the same project. The survey price of these was estimated at Tk 19,95,000 and were sold at 27,50,000.

During a recent visit to the area, this correspondent saw that trees are being cut on both sides of the road from the Kagmari intersection to Shamsan Ghat in Tangail town. Among those felled trees were mango, mahogany and banyan trees.

Azad Khan Bhasani, grandson of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani and a Santosh resident, said among the trees cut on both sides of the road for development were many ancient ones from the zamindari period.

"These trees provided us with fruits and shade... The future generations will never see such old trees again."

"There is no doubt that the country is becoming increasingly unliveable with the increasing heat over time. On the other hand, trees are being cut down indiscriminately, further contributing to the disaster. The authorities concerned should strive to implement any development plan in the future without harming trees," he added.