Savar UP chairman cut down road side trees ‘without RHD’s permission’

At least eight roadside Sal trees, worth around TK 2 lakh, were felled down by a union parishad (UP) chairman in Savar, outside the capital, allegedly without permission of Roads and Highways Department (RHD) some days ago.

The RHD filed a general dairy with Savar Model Police Station on January 17 in this regard but police did not make any arrest, said Samshuzzaha, sub-division engineer of RHD of Dhaka.

According to locals, Shohel Rana, pro-Awami League Chairman of Savar Sadar union parishad, cut down the trees beside Dhaka-Aricha highway in C&B area to build a passengers’ shed.

Contacted, Shohel said the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) passed the plan of the shed and the RHD took away all the trees which were felled down.

Samshuzzaha said they sized only one out of eight trees and some construction materials from the spot. And one must take RHD’s permission for making anything on its land, he added.

When asked about having RHD’s permission, Sohel did not make any comment.

Forest Officer of Savar, Shahidul Alam, said one must first inform the forest department before cutting any tree from government land, but he was not informed about the incident. “I will inform the higher authorities after visiting the spot,” he said.

Yesterday, our correspondent saw some workers still working on the spot.

Mahabubur Rhaman Assistant Superintend of Police (Savar Model Police Station) yesterday said police are investigating the matter.