One lakh trees planted in one minute
One lakh trees were planted at Borhanuddin upazila of Bhola between 12:00 noon and 12.01pm (one minute) on August 14 on the eve of the National Mourning Day.
The upazila administration arranged such an extraordinary programme to commemorate the day when Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members were brutally killed on August 15 in 1975, said Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Abdul Kuddus.
“I requested all the planters to pray for the departed soul of Bangabandhu after planting a tree. I arranged the programme to inspire people to plant more trees to maintain the natural balance,” the UNO added.
“I and some local youths took the decision to plant one lakh trees in the upazila about four months ago,” Kuddus said.
Kuddus and the youths arranged around 100 discussion meetings at different places in the upazila, including educational institutions and other establishments, to inspire the people.
They started collecting plants from two weeks before planting of the trees and stored them in a big field from where those were distributed on August 13.
“The deputy commissioner of Bhola helped us arrange the money while some local donors also contributed to buy the plants,” Kuddus said, adding that many people also personally donated some money within their limited capacity.
Twenty one varieties of trees, including fruit, flower and medicinal trees, were collected from horticultural markets and 25 nurseries, and the forest department arranged 40,000 plants, the UNO said.
The saplings were planted in 507 spots under all the schools, colleges, madrasas, mosques and temples, and along the roadsides of the upazila, he added.
“Every student planted a tree, and it will be cared for by the student who planted it,” Kuddus said.
“What they have done is praiseworthy and noteworthy. Humans, animals and birds will be directly benefited by it,” said Md Ferdous, a banker.
“We were very excited when we planted the trees in our school premises and our students enjoyed it,” said schoolteacher Moni Aktar.
“My name will be carried by this tree that I planted in my school,” said a student of Borhanduddin College.
“I appreciate such an activity in which all classes of people took part. It is a social movement that should be followed by all. If the movement takes place in all the parts of the country, there will be 25 percent more forest areas within a short time,” said Bhola Department of Agriculture Extension Deputy Director Prasanta Kumar Saha.
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