Call to stop mindless felling of trees
Environmentalist organisations yesterday demanded that the ongoing indiscriminate cutting down of trees across the country be stopped immediately.
Representatives of different green bodies placed a set of demands at a citizens' rally organised by Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) in front of the National Museum in the city.
Their demands include ban on indiscriminate felling of trees at tea gardens and eviction of the owners of the gardens who captured forest land illegally, eviction of indigenous people from forest areas be stopped, lease for different types of cultivation in forests be stopped, environment and forest-related corruption in all government and non-government departments be curbed, chopping down of trees in the name of afforestation be stopped and policy be introduced to save forests.
Speakers at the rally expressed grave concern over the ongoing cutting down of trees at different places, especially in hill and coastal areas.
They feared that an ecological imbalance might take place at the hill tracts and coastal areas where trees are being chopped down indiscriminately during the last several months that may lead to a devastating change in the country's weather and climate, they observed.
They claimed that local influential people who are also politically blessed by the ruling party have been taking part in such anti-environmental activities and most of the time these culprits remain untouched.
The speakers called on the government to take necessary steps immediately for a halt to the random cutting down of tress, otherwise a disastrous impact would fall on the country's environment.
Bapa General Secretary Dr Md Abdul Matin, Bapa leaders engineer Taksim A Khan, Jakir Hossain, Mihir Biswas, Humayun Kabir from Green Voice, Hasan Yusuf Khan and Md Hafizur Rahman spoke at the rally.
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