Alternatives to cutting down trees***

If law enforcement is the problem, then why cannot the relevant ministry arrange it with the concerned government personnel to increase their presence and patrolling in the reserved forest areas and take other measures on its own to face up to the situation of so thoughtless and greedy cutting down of trees ? The government recognises that many brickfields regularly burn wood and it also prohibited the use of wood and advised the use of coal or gas instead. With stocks from the Barapukuria coal becoming available, it should be easier to use coal in the brickfields. In the countryside where people are in the habit of burning of firewood for even cooking and heating, the use of solar power can help put a brake on such practices. There are substitutes of wood and furniture-makers should be actively persuaded to use the same in place of wood. The duty structure can be revamped to create incentives for greater use of such substitute products, in place of wood. Solar panels have been successfully introduced in some rural areas. With the government facilitating the import of solar panels and other equipment on easier terms, the use of these panels will record a steady rise in rural areas with costs of their use coming down substantially. Such a development will ease the pressure on rural households to use firewood to meet their energy needs. Even power can be generated from small turbines to be run by winds and the same can meet the needs of energy widely in the rural areas and thus lead to a significant reduction in the felling of trees. In sum, it is not enough to encourage tree plantation but it is very important to adopt the above and other measures and enforce them dedicatedly and scrupulously for the cumulative positive impact to occur in the long run. Shahida Begum Eskaton, Dhaka.