Where are those parks with lush green trees in Dhaka city, the capital of an independent country? Not long ago, the stretch of road from Gulshan I to Gulshan II looked serene and soothing with long trees lining up on both sides of the nearly one kilometre road. Now in just ten years' time, one cannot find a little space to breathe fresh air on the road linking Gulshan 1 and II. Even the beautiful park with plentiful green trees is not there as a children's 'circus', not really a park, with modern fancy equipment has filled up the blank. Not a single space with trees can be found in the entire area overburdened with hundreds of multi-storied buildings that seem to incessantly scream: it's a place for minting mountains of money through brisk business. Some of the majestic buildings do not have even any window for air to pass through.
Where have those parks gone in the city of over ten million people? It is only limitless human greed that has destroyed the lungs of the Dhakaites who are now gasping for fresh air in this severe heat. When one goes out of his house, he is immediately greeted with fumes of a virtual cauldron. Nature will surely take its toll in the not-too-distant future if environmental science is to be believed.
Several studies have noted that when trees grow throughout urban areas, surface temperature goes down. Planting one tree to the west and one to the south of a home can significantly reduce energy consumption. A study of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says, annual cooling costs are reduced by 8.0 to 18 per cent while annual heating costs are reduced by 2.0 to 8.0 per cent. Trees affect our climate, and therefore our weather, in three primary ways: they lower temperature, reduce energy usage and reduce or remove air pollutants. Each part of the tree contributes to climate control, from leaves to roots.
Studies have further said, leaves of trees help turn down the thermostat. They cool the air through a process called 'evapotranspiration'. Evapotranspiration is the combination of two simultaneous processes: evaporation and transpiration, both of which release moisture into the air. During evaporation, water is converted from liquid to vapour and evaporates from soil, lakes, rivers and even pavement. During transpiration, water that is drawn up through the soil by the roots evaporates from the leaves. It may seem like an invisible process to our eyes, but a large oak tree is capable of transpiring 40,000 gallons of water into the atmosphere during one year, according to the US Geographical Survey.
One does not need to study voluminous books to get an idea of what trees can do to the climate. At night time, one can feel it if he goes near the Ramna Park or the Suhrawardy Udayan. The visitor will instantly feel the difference as if s/he is in an area of natural air-conditioners, away from the heated air in Topkhana Road, Gulistan or Motijheel.
It has been found that the outdoor air conditioning provided by trees reduces the energy used inside home or office. Shade, provided by trees planted in a planned manner, cools buildings during the warm months, allows the sun's warming rays to shine through its branches in the winter and also protects buildings from cold winds. With some planning, urban trees can help minimise the heat island effect that saddles many cities.
What do our city fathers really do? The two limbs of the Dhaka City Corporation-one in the south and the other in the north -- appear to be paralysed so far as maintenance of parks and open spaces with trees is concerned. The Nagar Bhaban that houses the south city corporation itself looks like a royal palace as seen in photos of buildings constructed during the Mughal empire. Even the Osmani Udayan just in front of the Nagar Bhaban looks like a human skeleton with no meat in it, that is, no trees. The callousness and carelessness of the city corporation is amply evident from the present state of the Udayan.
The DCC seems to be too lazy to plant trees in the Osmani Udyan which lies in its front and in other parks in the capital still not occupied but dumped with unhealthy wastes. Some of the parks have been turned into garages for auto-rickshaws and rickshaws. There is none to look after these parks which are waiting to be grabbed by politically influential persons of the localities. A FE report published late last week said one-third of the parks and open spaces in Dhaka city has already been grabbed with virtually none to resist it. The city inhabitants have thus been deprived of trees that leave filter particles from the air, including dust, ozone, carbon monoxide and other air pollutants.
Through the process of photosynthesis, trees remove carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) and release oxygen into the air. Trees store the carbon dioxide, called carbon sequestration, and -- depending on the size of the tree -- can hold between 35 to 800 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. And sadly, hundreds of thousands of citizens of Dhaka city are seen crowding different hospitals and clinics daily for treatment of diseases that are directly or indirectly caused by the suffocating urban environment.
No time is to be lost if Dhaka and other cities across the country are to be made livable. The city corporations and municipalities need to act fast to protect parks and open spaces in their respective jurisdictions. These bodies do not need to fear the land grabbers. The state and its laws are strong to overpower the greedy elements who are out to cause serious injuries to people's health in urban areas.
arjayster@gmail.com
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