Over a thousand trees are being cut down for development work along the Tangail-Nagarpur-Aricha Highway, which the environmentalists say could have been averted.
In November 2021, the government took the initiative to upgrade 58.50km traffic-free, safe road communication from Manikganj to Tangail. The total cost of the project was estimated at Tk1,635.10 crore.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges is executing the project, titled "Upgradation of Aricha-Ghior-Daulatpur-Nagarpur-Tangail Regional Highway to Appropriate Quality and Width".
The project proposal said the 58.50km Aricha-Ghior-Daulatpur-Nagarpur-Tangail Highway is an important regional highway joining the Dhaka-Tangail highway at Nagarjilfi. Its Tangail section is 40km and Manikgonj section covers 18.50km.
Authorities have started land acquisition to implement the project this year. A tender was floated looking for persons or entities for tree felling as part of the project.
Local people said that at least 1,009 trees, including some 75 year-old ones, are being felled by the contractors. These include mango, berry, jackfruit, mahogany, banyan, and numerous other old trees.
One of the locals, Abdul Gani, said that felling trees in the name of development cannot do anything good for a country. He sided with the environmentalists, saying that the trees could have been spared.
A local environmental activist named Somnath Laheri said felling trees for road extensions is unprecedented and cannot be seen in any other country except for Bangladesh. The prime minister herself has voiced her opposition to this and added that cultivable lands cannot be used for setting up factories. He called on the authorities to stop the felling of these roadside trees and continue development activities in an alternative way.
Serajul Islam, a professor at the Environmental Science Department of Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University (MBSTU) in Tangail, said that trees are key to maintaining balance in the ecosystem. He called on the authorities to plant new trees on both sides of the highway if they really had to fell trees for the project.
Mir Mukut Abu Saeed, the executive officer of the Tree Cultivation Department at the Roads and Highways Department, admitted the initiative of tree felling, saying that a tender was floated in this regard and 1,009 trees will be felled in 12 installments by Shimul Enterprise, Kabir Mia, Jakir Hossain, and Habibur Rahman.