CHATTOGRAM, June 07: The Chattogram district administration allegedly felled more than 5,000 trees of a reserve forest in Salimpur coastal area on World Environment Day on June 05.
The trees were chopped down in order to build a road through the reserved forest for DC Park.
The Coastal Forest Department (CFD) made this allegation in a letter to the environment, forest and climate change ministry on Tuesday.
On the other hand, the district administration claimed the authorities cleared dead trees, which were killed by illegal occupiers of land earlier. Talking to the FE, divisional forest officer Abdur Rahman said on information, officials visited spot and stopped the construction work. "I've sent a letter to the high-ups in this regard."
The district administration was building a road through the reserve forest without taking permission from the CFD, he alleged.
"To construct the road, they have felled 5,000 small-sized gewa and baen trees, and 12 big-sized kewra trees and dug up forest land to fill up earth for the road."
Mr Rahman said, "We've suspended the building work and requested the DC to apply for permission."
He said the Salimpur forest land under Kattoli beat of Sadar Range was handed over to the CFD in 1986 and plantation started in 1991.
The CFD planted more than 0.5-million keora, baen and gewa trees there in order to create a coastal forest.
Talking to the FE, DC Abul Bashar Mohammad Fakhruzzaman denied the allegation of felling trees, saying that encroachers earlier killed many trees by poisoning and dug ponds in the forest.
"After recovering the land from illegal occupiers, we've initiated to develop a park there and save the forest… We started building a road to link the park with sea beach."
"We removed a few dead trees on the way for the purpose. Later, we'll plant trees on vacant space of the forest and install watchtowers to save the forest," added Mr Fakhruzzaman.
He said forest land is recorded as khas (fallow). "We don't need to take any permission to construct any road on the land."
He also said, "The district administration will plant 2.3-million trees this year in Chattogram. We'll plant trees in the park area and on either side of the road."
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