While Bangladesh's growth and all of its economic success must be -- and has been -- lauded in recent years, questions have rightfully been raised with regard to just how sustainable this growth truly has been.
Indeed, when one looks at the current state of Dhaka city, with its unchecked urbanization, sprawling construction sites, incessant fixing of roads and walkways, and the resultant, increasingly toxic air that is no longer limited to just the dry season during winter, we must ask: Is this the future of our country, and are we happy with this direction?
Whether it is major cities in the country feeling the heat of the summer worse than ever before, or the average citizen starving of green spaces and clean air, there is a common thread that runs through: Our indiscriminate cutting down of trees.
It is a shame that despite paying lip service to sustainability and the importance of greenery, we are utterly failing as a nation to protect trees. The fact that every city is required to have 20% green space but Dhaka has only 12% -- with the number only shrinking -- empirically proves this failure of our planning and urbanization efforts.
If we are to indeed build a nation that is sustainable and equitable, then the present practices of felling trees with impunity and replacing them with concrete has to be eliminated. In addition, the authorities concerned must seriously take up greening efforts to ensure that our major cities, in particular Dhaka, meet the minimum threshold for green spaces.
Development offers little use when it hurts people's health and well-being in the long run, which is what happens when we fail to protect trees and the environment.
