Uttara trees being sacrificed for road widening

The stump of an uprooted coconut tree in sector 7 of the capital's Uttara Friday. It was one of the several hundred trees felled by the city corporation in the last two months to widen roads in the residential area. Photo: Collected

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) have felled several hundred trees in the capital's Uttara in the last two months to widen roads, but residents said many of those could be saved and would not hamper vehicular movement. The trees include coconut, mango, jackfruit, neem and mahogany.

DNCC started the widening work to reduce traffic congestion at sector 6, 7 and 11 and Shahjalal Avenue.

Local residents said some trees were in the middle of the roads but a good number of them were just beside the footpaths and could have been saved easily.

Ripon, a resident of sector 3, said, "Many of Uttara residents like me are saddened to see that many trees have vanished from the streets. We want development but not at the cost of the roadside trees.

"There are clear signs that the city corporation, its contractors and officials are not bothered at all about trees and environment in Uttara, which is losing its greeneries in such a brutal way in the name of development."

He said preparations were on to remove more trees in other areas. This mindless act should be stopped without any delay.

"I had a 15-year-old neem tree just in front of my house which would not hamper widening of the road but it was cut like 20 other trees in front of my house," said Kazi Sanaullah, a resident of sector 7.

He said his family would use the neem trees for medicinal purposes.

Sanaullah said around 300 trees were cut on road-1 and road-27, many of which could have been saved.

Mohammad Rubel, caretaker of a house on road 1 in sector 7, said he had requested to save the jackfruit, coconut and mahogany trees but all were cut.

DNCC had said they would not cut the trees, he said, adding that the

owners spent around Tk 3,000 to set up walls around the trees where people used to sit, but the trees were felled. Three coconut, two teak and two jackfruit trees were cut, he added.

Mohammad Tipu Mian, another resident, said they saved two coconut trees after making requests. He said the authorities could save the tree by building a wall, as it happened on many other roads of Uttara.

However, project director of DNCC Arifur Rahman expressed helplessness. "What would we do? If we do not cut the trees, the road could not be widened properly," he told The Daily Star. He said it was sad for them to cut the trees but there was no choice. The official said they were doing the widening work with Tk 60 crore in the first phase and would do the same work in the second phase with the same amount of money. He said they would finish the work by April and gradually do it in all sectors of Uttara, except for sector 2, in the two phases. They will replant trees at suitable points after the development work is complete, he assured.

Siraj, a sub-contractor of the project, said the roads were being widened from 40 feet to 60 feet.