25 trees felled to construct new building

Jagannath Hall authorities of Dhaka University (DU) have cut down 25 trees on the hall premises, and prepare to chop down 50 more soon to make room for a new building.
The five-storey building would be constructed in between the hall pond and Udayan High School. Estimated to cost around Tk 14 crore, it is expected to accommodate around a thousand students.
Some 500 students of the hall's rundown East Building, which was identified as too frail to weather an earthquake and declared unsafe for living in 2006, would be shifted to the new one.
Felling of the trees for the proposed structure however has drawn ire from many a campus resident and green activists. They believe the building could be built without having to hack down the old trees lining the Udayan School wall.
"All they [authorities] need is a good intention to spare the trees that would not hamper construction of the proposed building. Maybe they are cutting those down for financial gains," said Ramesh Chandra, a student of the hall.
Hall Provost Prof Ajoy Kumar Das said the decision to wipe out the trees was taken by a committee that comprises experts from the university's arboriculture and other departments concerned.
"The committee has decided to cut down only the trees that must be felled for the construction. The project would stop if the students feel they don't need the building at the expense of the trees," said Prof Ajoy, talking to The Daily Star over phone yesterday.
"If the trees next to the boundary wall are not felled now, they might come crashing down on the new building in future since there is no alternative to severing their roots to set up the basement," he added.
Students will form a human chain at the hall compound today to demand that the authorities construct the proposed structure leaving the trees untouched.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan (Bapa) yesterday condemned the cutting down of trees on Jagannath Hall premises on the pretext of solving the seat crisis.
In a press release, it demanded rearrangement of the construction site so the old trees need not be cut down. Besides, it said, the authorities should take into consideration the position of the pond.
Dedicated to protecting and preserving the natural environment, the organisation also demanded an eco-friendly master plan for the development work on DU campus.