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Dr Samad’s ‘green heaven’

How a kidney specialist is on the forefront of Tangail’s green revolution
MIRZA SHAKIL
Dr MA Samad is rated as one of the best kidney disease specialists in the country. He wakes up early in the morning and attends to hundreds of patients at the Anwara Khan Modern Hospital in Dhanmondi of Dhaka.
Rafiqul Hossain Ranju, a close associate of Dr Samad, once told him that kidney disease is life-threatening and very painful but people are not aware of the risks posed by kidney-related diseases.
Reflecting on that, Dr Samad established Kidney Awareness Monitoring and Prevention Society (KAMPS) to create awareness among people regarding kidney diseases. It has five branches in total -- two in Tangail, and one each in Madaripur, Chandpur and Dhaka. Kidney tests and dialysis are done here at a lower cost. Despite his busy schedule, Dr Samad visits each centre once a month to see patients.
He also has immense love for the people of Tangail, his hometown. Every year on February 21, he comes to Tangail’s Hatibandha village with an army of specialised doctors. Hundreds of patients are tested for various diseases and free medicines are distributed throughout the day. These activities have been going on for more than sixteen years.
But this is not just a story of a doctor who is giving back to his community. Rather, this is a story of a “green heaven”, a place which is inspiring hundreds of local farmers and also combating climate change simultaneously.
Green heaven
In the span of four years, this nature-loving doctor created a huge garden, rich with numerous local and foreign fruit plants in his village on about 30 acres of land.
Dr Samad’s “green heaven” has about 10,000 trees of 300 species of local and foreign fruits, including mango, berry, jackfruit, litchi, elderberry, grapefruit, malta, orange, olive, rambutan, custard apple, avocado and dragon. He also plants various vegetables.
Local farmers and visitors from far away come to see this orchard daily. They return with the determination to do something similar.
The garden produces a huge yield every year. The fruits are sent to different parts of the country, including Dhaka, every day.
Saiful Islam of neighbouring Basail upazila visited Samad’s orchard and said, “I heard about this orchard from many people before, so I came to see it today.”
“I’m mesmerised. I hope to do something similar on a small scale,” he said.
Sakhipur Upazila Agriculture Officer Niyanta Barman said Dr Samad’s mixed fruit garden is really extraordinary. The dragon fruit garden has about 1,400 trees. He also planted other fruit trees in his own way.”
“Many have been motivated to create a garden of their own seeing Samad’s orchard. The local agriculture department has been giving regular suggestions to develop the garden. The sub-assistant agriculture officer has been directed to visit the garden at least once a week,” he added.
How it all started
Dr Samad was born into a farming family in Tangail. Growing up, he was surrounded by forests and red clay hills. So from childhood, he has had an immense love for nature and plants. It was from this feeling that he took special pleasure in planting trees and taking care of them.
A few years ago, Samad went to a tree fair in Dhaka and saw a lot of exotic fruit seedlings. From there, his curiosity arose whether it is possible to cultivate these fruits in the red soil of his village.
When he asked the concerned people, some said it was possible, although some were sceptical.
After that, he started gardening by collecting seedlings from different places in the country and abroad. Taking a break from his busy schedule, he visited Tangail every Friday for the last four years regardless of torrential rain, scorching summer heat or chilly winter mornings. Now the garden stands on over 30 acres of land with all its glory.
Renowned kidney specialist Dr MA Samad has created a huge garden, rich with numerous local and foreign fruit plants in Tangail on about 30 acres of land. His “green heaven” has about 10,000 trees of 300 species. This photo was taken recently from Tangail’s Hatibandha village.