The cutting down of trees adjacent to Bangla Academy, the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission office and Dhaka University Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) has drawn widespread criticism on social media, particularly from DU alumni.
Bangladesh Chhatra Union’s DU chapter formed a human chain in front of Bangla Academy on Monday, protesting the felling of the trees for the construction of the TSC metro-station.
While addressing the protest rally, Chhatra Union DU unit President Sakkhawat Fahad said: “The authorities are making a metro-station forcibly, which the stakeholders oppose. As a result, they are busy during the lockdown to complete the unwanted work before the students return to campus.”
The protestors demanded an immediate stop to the destruction of the environment and urged the university administration to take necessary steps. They threatened to wage a tougher movement if the demands were ignored.
Former and current students of the university expressed their frustration over the cutting down of trees in the campus area for the Dhaka University Station of MRT Line-6.
Metro Rail contract holders recently began cutting down trees in the area adjacent to the TSC wall, from the Raju Memorial Monument to Doyel Chattar, to widen the road and construct the station.
Students took to social media to voice their anger, as they fear the metro-rail station will pose a serious threat to the ambience of the university.
The authorities began to cut down the trees at a time when all activities of the university have remained suspended due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Most students are currently not on the campus but in their home districts.
Speaking on the issue, DU Proctor Prof AKM Golam Rabbani said the construction had been in the plan earlier and the felling of the trees was part of the plan. He asserted that it would not particularly harm the TSC.
The metro rail, beginning from Uttara Phase III, passes through Farmgate, Sonargaon Hotel, TSC of Dhaka University, Curzon Hall, National Press Club, Bangladesh Bank, Atish Dipankar Road, going all the way to Sayedabad.
Earlier in 2016, Dhaka University students took to the streets demanding that the metro rail alignment not run through the university, saying that historical places and sculptures would lose their attraction and beauty if the metro rail went through the DU campus.
