Sylhet Bureau :
Bangladesh Betar’s Sylhet centre felled 143 trees for development work without final clearance from Forest Department.
Present infrastructure of the centre in its 2.71 acre compound was built in 1978 and all trees were planted at the time or earlier.
According to Forest Product Transit Rule 2011, all trees must be marked and priced by the Forest Department and a final clearance must be issued prior to felling the trees.
Morteja Ahmed, Assistant Engineer of Betar’s Sylhet centre, said, ‘A project worth Tk 55 crore is under progress for an auditorium construction. The trees were occupying that space.’
He said, ‘Forest Department carried out the inspection, marking and pricing. To get final clearance, we filed an application with the department on May 28 this year, but we haven’t received it.’
‘Contractors of Public Works Department arrived to start the work, so we had to cut the trees last month without clearance. We didn’t want to delay the project,’ he said.
Abdul Karim Kim, General Secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon in Sylhet, said, ‘The government has spread its ‘tree plantation campaign’ through the radio but Bangladesh Betar itself is not aware of the negative impact of the sudden felling of so many trees.’
Abu Bakar Siddik, Assistant Conservator of Forest in Sylhet said, ‘We cleared 65 trees when they applied in December 2018, but they again applied on May 28 for a total of 143 trees including the previous ones.
We needed more time to clear this request as this is a huge number of trees, but they cut them down in a hurry. We will take necessary legal action soon.’
Bangladesh Betar’s Sylhet centre felled 143 trees for development work without final clearance from Forest Department.
Present infrastructure of the centre in its 2.71 acre compound was built in 1978 and all trees were planted at the time or earlier.
According to Forest Product Transit Rule 2011, all trees must be marked and priced by the Forest Department and a final clearance must be issued prior to felling the trees.
Morteja Ahmed, Assistant Engineer of Betar’s Sylhet centre, said, ‘A project worth Tk 55 crore is under progress for an auditorium construction. The trees were occupying that space.’
He said, ‘Forest Department carried out the inspection, marking and pricing. To get final clearance, we filed an application with the department on May 28 this year, but we haven’t received it.’
‘Contractors of Public Works Department arrived to start the work, so we had to cut the trees last month without clearance. We didn’t want to delay the project,’ he said.
Abdul Karim Kim, General Secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon in Sylhet, said, ‘The government has spread its ‘tree plantation campaign’ through the radio but Bangladesh Betar itself is not aware of the negative impact of the sudden felling of so many trees.’
Abu Bakar Siddik, Assistant Conservator of Forest in Sylhet said, ‘We cleared 65 trees when they applied in December 2018, but they again applied on May 28 for a total of 143 trees including the previous ones.
We needed more time to clear this request as this is a huge number of trees, but they cut them down in a hurry. We will take necessary legal action soon.’
