Dr. Syed Nesar Ahmad Rumy :
Bangladesh is a country of green vegetations. Different kinds of trees, plants are grown here. We all know that this country is highly populated and the density of the population is almost highest in the present-day world. We also know that we have rivers, forest, hills, bushes, orchards and intensive agricultural fields. Though this country is small in size but the population is big. Always we are trying to change the fate of our country. Sometimes we are successful but sometimes we are not. So we can take some steps to transform our country more beautiful and tourist friendly and this step might be a new branding of our country. In this respect we can rearrange our trees and plants season wise for the beautification in some places of the country though we have immense natural beauty. In many places different kind of trees with flower and plants are grown and different kinds of fruits produced in many places haphazardly. Those are some fruit bearing trees, flower trees and plants which have some inherent beauty. We can use this beauty to make our country systematically more beautiful and ultimately it might have a branding value for tourism in future. Just we need good wishes and appropriate mind-setup. Presently our tourist spots are limited in hilly areas, sea beaches and some forest areas. Though, recently Haor tour gets popular for the development of communications. Beyond those traditional tourist spots we can think about the prospects of our nontraditional tourism. We have vast agricultural fields, plants and trees, water-bodies other than the Haor areas and some unexplored historical structures.
We have six seasons and all the seasons have sharp and distinct characteristics. One with inquisitive mind can easily differentiate the characteristics of two seasons. For that reason for touristic point of view we can take initiatives in making our country more beautiful. There are some places where this sort of initiatives taking place by individual initiatives. But that is not enough. In this respect we can take notice of the palm trees planted on the both sides of Rajshahi – Naogaon road. 2/3 decades back a person with his own initiatives planted thousands of palm seeds on the both sides of this highway. Now this highway turns a very good looking with natural arch on that road miles after miles. And it is now spreading natural beauty of that area. Many people in and around of that area visit this place every day and get amused by this natural beauty of these trees. By drone photography this area looks more beautiful.
So season wise we can rearrange our plants and trees all over Bangladesh. In the spring Shimul, Palash and Krishanachura trees are kept full of flowers blossoming along the different roadsides in Bangladesh. This time nature and environment of our country take a very beautiful and festive look. So for beautifying Bangladesh we can take some initiatives and for that we can dedicate some national highways side for planting Shimul, Palash and Krishanachura and some other selective flower trees. In this respect we can consider Dhaka-Chattogram highway and every alternative ten kilometers we can plant these trees and our national fruit trees (Jack fruit) and mango trees can also be planted systematically. If this happens in those areas the natural beauty and environment, ecology of this entire highway would definitely be increased within some years. This would also attract people and tourists. In a particular time of the year this green and adjacent agricultural fields full of golden- paddy and other corns along the road side will turn a festive look. After the implementations of this program another 2/3 highways heading to different districts from Dhaka can be taken for this sort of beautification. In this way season wise we can implant other attractive trees those have ornamental attractions. Palm trees, Date palms, Chatim, Rain trees, Koroi should be planted systematically along the different road sides in Bangladesh.
In the rainy season to autumn and up to the winter our national flowers Shapla and catkins blossoms in different water bodies, riversides and barren lands in the country. One can enjoy the divine natural beauty from the running trains and buses or from a boat in many places in Bangladesh. This environment can also enhance the domestic tourism in our country and as well as maybe this environment will also be an attraction to many tourists. The six seasons in Bangladesh can be characterized in the ways which are as follows:
In our national anthem Nobel laureate Poet Rabindranath Tagore describe the beauties of nature of this country. One can easily understand the natural beauty of our country if s/he notices the verses of our national anthem. So following the verses of National anthem our endeavor should be as such that we have to rearrange our trees, plants, orchards, flower garden in some selected places in the country. If that is so some places of our country might turn a festive look season wise and ultimately it will attract people. And it will have a positive effect of promoting domestic and international tourism. At the same time the young and children who are less accustomed with this environment can get a chance to know the different plants species of our country.
So for the natural beautification of this country some steps may be considered by the high-ups of the country. And those steps are as follows:
a. To select 100 places across the country for successful implementation of this programs;
b. To choose different varieties of plants according to season wise fruit bearing and flower blossoming;
c. To start tree plantation in road sides following experts opinions;
d. Initially 4/5 national highways can be selected for this purpose;
e. A local committee should be formed for maintenance and protection of the trees planted;
f. Some water body areas should he selected for taking care of Shapla of different colors.
If these steps are successfully done, many areas in Bangladesh will be turned as festive look in the six seasons. We know Bangladesh is a green country given by nature. But we can transform our own country more beautiful and festive to rearrange existing plants, trees in different places in Bangladesh and this can also contribute promoting our tourism. Policymakers, think-tanks of our country should consider this idea for the betterment of the country in the days to come.
(Dr. Syed Nesar Ahmad Rumy is a retired Civil Servant).
