Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh has said that three times as many trees will be planted as are cut in the capital's Dhanmondi area for urban development.

Trees on the road divider of Satmasjid Road in Dhanmondi are currently being cut to implement a development project. The DSCC authorities say the trees are being cut to beautify the road divider, but local residents, civil society representatives and various environmental organisations have strongly condemned and protested against it.

Mayor Taposh said some people may well be saddened and hurt by the felling; it is a matter of emotion for them. "But wherever one tree is removed, we are working to plant three trees there," he said.

He was speaking to journalists after visiting the Dhakeshwari temple area on 10 May.

The DSCC mayor said many people were making sweeping remarks about the felling without full information. In development work trees often have to be felled or cut, which is very unfortunate, he said, "but we do it only when there is no other option at all".

He said other trees would definitely be planted where trees had been felled or would have to be cut. "We have decided to plant three times as many trees where trees must be cut for development work. For each tree cut, we are working to plant three there. We will plant many more trees on that road divider (Satmasjid Road). In addition, about 10,000 trees will be planted in the coming monsoon. So this is an ongoing process for us," he said.

In reply to another question, Sheikh Taposh said: "In more than two years we have already planted about two lakh trees. We will plant more than a lakh trees along the Adi Buriganga, and more than a lakh along our canals under the project that has been approved. We have plans to make Dhaka green."

He said the claim that trees were being cut without the advice of any urban planner was a sweeping one. "We have three urban planners. Since I came (became city mayor), whether it is our projects, our own activities or anything else, I have been working collectively with architects, urban planners, historians and everyone else," he said.

"Nobody sees the planning; many people see it only when we start the work after planning. We have to do a lot of work behind the scenes to carry out development. We will keep planting trees. We will certainly turn Dhaka into a beautiful and green city," the mayor said.

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