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DU losing greenery, cleanliness

UNB, Dhaka
Once admired for its greenery and cool atmosphere, Dhaka University is now losing its beauty fast, as students face myriads of problems like littering and overcrowded spaces.
“Students come from all over the country to the country's most-reputed university with big dreams, but they ultimately get upset when they face a bazaar-like situation everywhere with overcrowding and crumbling classrooms," said Akhtaruz Zaman, an alumnus of the university, while visiting the campus recently.
“This is not appreciable that outsiders remind university authorities about cleanliness. They have to maintain cleanliness before anyone else reminds them. The situation [at DU] was not always like this," said Zaman, who now teaches journalism at Massey University in New Zealand.
Another alumnus of the university, who preferred not to be named, said the university is fraught with problems. "Dirt, dust and garbage are everywhere in addition to unplanned food stalls at every corner of the campus," he said.
Allegations are also there that the quality of education at the university is being compromised for various reasons.
Professor Emeritus of the university Dr Serajul Islam Choudhury recently said DU students are now losing interest in acquiring
knowledge due to the fall of standard in education and growing unemployment.
"The standard of education [at DU| is falling fast. These days students are busy preparing themselves for public recruitment tests, including Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS), rather than acquiring knowledge," he said.
The Times Higher Education, a Londonbased organisation, recently published a list of 417 top-ranking universities in Asia; Dhaka University failed to make the list.
About its losing greenery, open spaces and cleanliness, many students of the university blamed negligence of the authorities.
Garbage like used water bottles, polyethene bags, and cigarette butts and packets are found scattered here and there on the campus.
After visiting different points of the campus, including the central playground, Shaheed Minar, Mall Chattar, Curzon Hall, Arts Faculty building, Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) and Madhur Canteen, the UNB correspondent did not find enough bins where students can throw the trash.
Blaming university authorities for not providing adequate waste bins, Niloy Kumar Biswas, a student of Mass Communication and Journalism Department, said, "There're only six or seven bins near the Arts Faculty building, forcing students to throw waste at open places despite knowing that it'll only make our campus dirty... but we've nothing to do."
"Overcrowding is always a problem. Now the university has over 37,000 students but it is woefully unequipped to handle this influx," Niloy added.
Prof Mihir Lal Shah, a teacher of Botany department and director of the Arboriculture Centre of the university, said the university has lost at least 20 big old trees in last one and half years due to natural or manmade causes.
A 50-year-old mango tree and a 30-year-old Neem tree collapsed in August last year in front of the DU central library. Besides, a 40-year-old banyan tree also fell down in front of the Arts Faculty building last monsoon.
The main reason behind the collapse
of these big trees is weak development of taproot (main root) due to lack of oxygen in soil, said Dr Md Abdul Karim, a professor of botany.
Blaming unplanned construction of heavy structures, Dr Karim said, “Due to the heavy constructions, trees are losing their balance because their main roots can't grow properly and that's why they are falling during disasters."
Prof Mihir Lal Shah added, "We plant new trees every year and trim big ones in the winter to preserve the beauty of the university.”
Contacted, DU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman told the news agency that they have a plan to provide enough trash bins at the main points of the campus and plant trees to keep the university green and clean.