The greens have gone. The 40-year-old Akashmani and Mahogany trees on the sides of the Sakhipur-Gorai-Sagardighi Road in Tangail are dying. Armies of ants have built nests on the roots and branches, and the risk of deadwood falling on passing vehicles rises with each passing day.
Concerns mounted after the Forest Department recently identified 333 infected trees on the stretch of road between Kutubpur and Taktarchala.
The Sakhipur-Gorai-Sagardighi road was constructed in 1983-84. At the time, hundreds of thousands of Akashmani and Mahogany saplings were planted on the Gorai-Kakraid part, which is about 70 kilometres long.
Some of the infected trees have died. The rest are close to death. Experts fear that the infestation will spread and seriously damage the environment and public health if the infected trees are not cut down immediately.
Some people were seen walking under the dead and half-dead trees without feeling unsafe, although the trees may collapse in storms or in the face of a strong wind.
According to Ratan Chandra Das, Kachua forest beat officer under Baheratoil Range, and Rumiuzzaman, DB Ghazaria beat officer, 333 dead trees have been identified on the road from Kutubpur to Taktarchala, near the border with Sakhipur, after an order was received from the upazila administration.
Earlier, local residents made a strong demand for the authorities concerned to cut down the trees as soon as possible.
Sakhipur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Farzana Alam said that the marked trees would be chopped down soon, and the money earned from auctioning the logs would be deposited in the government treasury.
