One of the more troubling trends being witnessed by the capital's citizens is the increasing instances of trees being felled by our city corporations along specific roads.
According to a study from last year (titled “Present status and historical changes of urban green space in Dhaka city, Bangladesh: A remote sensing driven approach”), Dhaka has already lost close to 60% of its green spaces over a period of three decades -- our capital city had 12,745 hectares of vegetation, while it stood at just 5,599 hectares in 2020.
As we have editorialized time and again, the importance of dedicated green spaces for a city as densely populated as Dhaka is immeasurable. However, the fact that our city corporations are now going the opposite direction entirely and are cutting down trees should be ringing alarm bells not just for environmental reasons but also reasons that pertain to affecting quality of life.
The value of trees, plants, and greenery in urban environments is well documented -- they improve air quality, provide shade against the heat, and also act as an antidote to the busyness of urban life. Given that Dhaka is consistently ranked as one of the worst cities in the world in terms of factors such as air pollution and rising temperatures during the summer, it becomes all the more obvious why cutting down trees is a bad idea.
Of course, there is also the legality of the act that comes into question as the DNCC has reportedly been cutting down trees without proper authorization from the forest department. But the law-breaking becomes secondary as stripping away Dhaka's already dwindling greenery is, to simply put, immoral.
Urban and infrastructural development are integral aspects of what makes a city but they mean little if the air and the environment of our cities are unfavourable to human life.
Dhaka needs more trees and more dedicated green spaces, not fewer.
