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PABNA-RAJSHAHI HIGHWAY

A ‘festival’ of tree felling
RHD say they are axing only dead and risky ones, locals claim otherwise
OUR CORRESPONDENT, Pabna
Logs from felled trees lined up on both sides of Pabna-Rajshahi highway, this is what this correspondent observed during a recent visit to the place. Workers, armed with axes, were striking down the trees in the name of ensuring ‘highway safety,’ while their trucks were ferrying the fallen giants away.
The RHD has begun rampant tree felling on both sides of the highway, stretching from Pabna’s Gaspara till Ishwardi’s Muladuli, sparking criticism.
While RHD Rajshahi divisional office claimed ‘a total 71 trees that are either dead or risky are being felled for ensuring safety on the highway’, locals alleged that some healthy trees are also being cut down unnecessarily.
As per rules, the relevant authorities should take prior permission from the Department of Environment for felling any trees.
Contacted, Inspector of Pabna DoE GM Nazrul Islam said, “ We were not officially informed about the highway tree felling.”
“We do not permit unnecessary tree felling. If there is a need to cut down trees for any reason, a committee comprised of various government organisations makes the decision after assessing the needs,” he explained.
The RHD Rajshahi divisional office recently held a tender for cutting down dead and risky trees beside highways in the division through six packages, of which Pabna belongs in the fifth package. The work to cut down 71 trees from Gaspara to Muladuli was awarded to ‘Sagor Traders’, a Bogura based company at cost of Tk 2.23 lakh in FY 2022-23, according to RHD Pabna office.
“RHD had earlier identified the dead and risky trees on the highway and marked those with red colour. The men of contractors are cutting down trees according to the identification mark. This is a regular work of the RHD for safety measures,” said Abul Monsur Ahmed, executive engineer of RHD in Pabna.
Visiting Gaspara to Muladuli recently, this correspondent, however, found dozens of healthy trees being felled alongside dead ones at several points on the highway.
At Atmail area of the highway, he found a large and healthy ‘Koroi’ tree was being cut down.
Similarly, dozens of healthy trees were seen being felled at Gaspara, Maligasa and few other points on the highway.
Md Abu Bakar, a wood trader and also representative of the contractor, said they were felling trees following the identification mark.
“These include a few dead trees as well as a few that are marked as risky,” he said.
However, Arif Ahmed, a college teacher from Monohorpur area said, “Dozens of healthy trees have been marked as risky and are being cut down.”
Echoing the same,Abdul Hamid Khan, a leading environment activist of Pabna, said, “In the name of cutting down dead trees, rampant felling of healthy trees is an old practice that must be stopped,” said Abdul Hamid Khan, a leading environment activist of Pabna.
“If a healthy tree is found to be risky for its huge branches, we can easily cut down its branches but there is no need to cut down the entire tree,” he added.
Contacted, RHD executive engineer Abul Monsur Ahmed said they have got no complaint regarding healthy trees being felled beyond those identified as dead or risky.
Over 50 trees have already been felled and the rest will be cut down soon, he added.
“If we get complaints about felling healthy trees beside the highway without approval, we will take steps,” the RHD official said.