Tree felling fest in name of road construction

Workers fell trees in Chakamoiya union under Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali district following recent unauthorised sale of 400 trees by the union parishad chairman. The trees worth around Tk 10 lakh have been sold for a nominal Tk 35,000 to a few local ruling party men in the pretext of a road construction. Photo: STAR

Over 400 roadside trees are being felled in Chakamoiya union parishad (UP) of Kalapara upazila under the district as the UP recently sold the trees, planted by the forest department around 15 years ago, without any permission.
The UP sold it in an auction in the pretext of road construction while LGED and forest department officials said felling of the trees was absolutely unnecessary as there was sufficient space for construction of the road.
Moreover, locals alleged that Chakamoiya UP sold these trees on both sides of the road to local ruling party men in an auction for a nominal price of Tk 35,000 although its market price would be around Tk 10 lakh.
Kalapara LGED and Chakamoiya UP sources said LGED took a Tk 3.15 crore project for construction of a 3.85-km-long and 3.95-metre-wide road from Gamurbunia Government Primary School to Tarikata Bazar and contractors started setting beds for the purpose.
The buyers of the 400 trees started cutting them on Friday.
"We including local leaders of Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League bought these trees in an auction from the local union parishad," said Md Faruq Howlader, president of Ward No 1 (under Chakamoiya UP) unit of Awami League, also one of the buyers.
Mizanur Rahman, a businessman of Tarikata Bazar, said, "The forest department planted the trees 14/15 years ago on both sides of the road. But the UP sold over 400 of these trees in an auction only for Tk 35,000 to local ruling party men although their market price would be Tk 8 to 10 lakh."
"There was no need to cut the trees to construct the road as there is sufficient space for it. We do not know the reason of selling these trees by the local UP," said Pronob Kumar, Kalapara upazila engineer for LGED.
Abdul Mannan, a resident of Tarikata village, said no trees were cut when the road from Nishanbaria to Tarikata Bazar, another section of the same road, was constructed.
"All the trees were planted by the forest department but the local UP did not take permission from the department to sell or cut these trees. I informed my higher authorities of the matter, seeking step," Khondokar Yaqub Ali, range officer of forest department in Kalapara.
Md Karamot Ali, chairman for Chakamoiya UP, also secretary of the union unit of Awami League, said, "I sold these trees to local youths in an auction to construct the road."
He did not give any reply when asked why he sold the trees for only Tk 35,000 while its market price would be about Tk 10 lakh.
When contacted, Kalapara Upazila Nirbahi Officer Didary Alam Mohammad Maksud Chowdhury, said, "I heard the news of cutting trees unnecessarily by the local union parishad. We will take lawful action after proper investigation."