A nursery has grown up in the 30 Godown area on the bank of the Kirtankhola river, which flows along the edge of Barishal city. Members of the Armed Police Battalion (APBN) built it on their own initiative. It holds a collection of flowering, fruit and timber trees, and its beauty has caught the eye of nature lovers.

The initiative is led by Additional DIG Abu Ahammad Al Mamun, commanding officer of 10 APBN in Barishal. The nursery, spread over about one acre, began on 17 May 2024 at his initiative. Once a neglected patch overgrown with jungle, the place has been transformed by volunteer work of police members into a pleasant green spot with thousands of saplings and birdsong.

Khalid Saifullah, who was visiting the riverbank, said: "While walking along the river, I suddenly noticed a nursery banner at the gate of the Armed Police Battalion. Then I saw it said open to all, went inside and was delighted. I enjoyed seeing the variety of flowering, fruit and timber trees of thousands of species."

Another visitor, Nuruzzaman, said: "I have been to various nurseries in the city, but saplings here are a little cheaper than elsewhere. So I bought a few fruit saplings."

APBN sub-inspector (SI) Abdul Alim said: "The nursery is also a place of peace of mind for APBN members. Whenever we have time after work, we spend it in the nursery. It gives us joy."

Additional DIG Mamun said: "Alongside routine duties, constructive work is possible if there is the will. Seeing the empty spaces, I thought planting fruit trees could benefit the environment and people. That is when I planned the nursery. The nursery now has about 10,000 saplings of mango, lychee, guava, custard apple, jackfruit and other local fruit trees. These saplings are not only for protecting the environment; they are being supplied to local people at affordable prices."

He said fruit and flower saplings are available for between Tk 200 and Tk 4,000. "We are raising saplings that bear fruit in the year they are planted. We are also trying to conserve saplings of various varieties," he said. He urged everyone to plant trees and encourage others to do so.

Environmentalist Shubhankar Chakraborty praised the project, saying that trees which were not environment-friendly used to be planted in the past, but this nursery will help meet nutritional needs and could even earn foreign currency in future. Such initiatives should be spread to all government institutions, he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.