Random felling of roadside trees in Naogaon

NAOGAON, Aug 31: Over 70 roadside trees have been felled in Srimantapur union parishad (UP) of Niamatpur upazila under the district as the UP recently sold the trees.
Sources said that the UP sold 54 trees on both sides of the road stretching from Battali crossing to Suphia Bazar to Saidur Rahman Mridha, a resident of Mirulla village under Manda upazila, in an auction for a price of Tk 0.19 million.
The buyer has started felling trees on the road few days ago, but he has exceeded the limit of cutting 54 trees fixed by the tender bid and already axed 17 more trees.
Local people alleged that he were not only cutting down mature trees but also saplings, which could be disastrous to the ecological balance.
When asked about random felling of the trees, chairman of Srimantapur union parishad Al-Mamun Haque said, "we have sold a total of 54 trees to a person in auction. Necessary steps  would be taken against the buyer if he cut down trees more than the contract of auction."
But no initiatives have been taken after three days of the illegal felling of the trees.
When contacted, Niamatpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Selim Hossain said, "I heard the news of cutting trees unnecessarily by the local union parishad. We will take lawful action after proper investigation."    ritushar.ru@gmail.com