From barren roof to blooming garden

Atop the Barlekha Upazila Agriculture Office in Moulvibazar sits a delicate rooftop garden, featuring a tapestry of flowers. A whopping 250 flower varieties are blooming on this roof.

This rooftop oasis is the brainchild of Monowar Hossain, the Agriculture Officer of Barlekha Upazila. The little free time he is afforded during and after work, Monowar tends to the garden with an unwavering dedication. For him, this is not merely a hobby, rather a labour of love that is a testament to Monowar's commitment to preserving nature.

Shanku Lal Das, a guard of the office, said that vegetables were originally grown on the roof of the office, but only for short periods. The rest of the time, the roof was left bare.

After Monowar joined the office, he began this initiative.

Monowar said he initially started making the roof suitable for flower cultivation by collecting the necessary materials -- including empty paint buckets, cement tubs, terracotta tubs, plastic half drums, and fruit crates. The soil is prepared with loam soil, earthworm manure, coco peat, compost, coarse sand, brick chips, cow dung, rotted leaves, egg shells, mustard seeds and a small number of chemical fertilisers. After the soil is prepared, it has to be left alone to set for some time. Later, Monowar collected seedlings from various nurseries and through online shops.

There are hundreds of domestic and foreign varieties of flowers in this garden including 39 varieties of domestic and foreign roses; 13 varieties of gerbera; 23 varieties of rain lilies; 50 varieties of adenium (desert roses); 20 varieties of gardenias; 8 varieties of gladiolus; 10 varieties of wood roses; 45 varieties of purslane or time flower; 8 varieties of crown-of-thorns; 3 varieties of chrysanthemum, and 2 varieties of marigold.

There are also some fruit trees. Most are mangoes -- Sunflower, Kyuzai, Bari Mango-4, Banana Mango and Brunei King. Additionally, Safeda, Zara lemon, dragon fruit and malta are also available, along with herbs like mint, aloe vera, basil and lettuce leaves.

A swarm of bees and butterflies usually flocks to this rooftop garden, so Monowar also set up a bee-box for cultivation.

"It gives me a lot of joy when the flowers, planted by my own hands, bloom. Many people come to this rooftop to see flowers. Some are then inspired to love nature. If someone wants to build a rooftop garden, I will give them full support," Monowar said, smiling.