<i>Mayor himself did it!</i>

More than 50 big trees were illegally felled allegedly by the order of Gaibandha municipality mayor on Monday.Photo: STAR

Over 50 trees were felled at the graveyard of Gaibandha municipality illegally on Monday.
The decades-old trees were chopped down following the order of municipality mayor Shamsul Alam, alleged locals.
Earlier, the mayor felled several trees also from the municipality park without the permission of authorities concerned.
Recently a decision to trim unwanted branches of trees in the graveyard was taken at a meeting of the municipality, but the mayor ordered to cut off the trees, said panel mayor GM Chowdhury Mithu.
As random tree felling adversely affects the environment, the mayor should have taken approval from the authorities concerned, said Wasiur Rahman Rafel, convener of Gaibandha Paribesh Andolan.
Refuting the allegation, the mayor said 'a few useless trees' were felled and some branches trimmed just to set the graveyard environment in order.