Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayor Atiqul Islam has blamed indiscriminate tree felling for the intense heat in the capital Dhaka and across the country.

"Dhaka was once full of trees and the soil was fertile. Thinking of our own interests, we have destroyed the forests. Now when we go out on the road we no longer find shade as before. There is no pure oxygen hub anywhere. We gasp in the unbearable heat. Nature has begun to take its revenge. So cutting down a tree just because you feel like it cannot be allowed," he said.

He was speaking on Thursday (22 June) at a tree-planting drive organised jointly by the DNCC and the Forest Department on A K Khandaker Road in Mohakhali.

Speaking as chief guest, the mayor said the country was once famed as a lush, fertile, green Bangladesh, but that is no longer so. "We are cutting trees and clearing forests. With fewer trees we no longer see green shade. We have moved away from a green Bangladesh, and these things now seem like history to us. Through planned tree planting in Dhaka we want to bring that history back and cover the city in green shade again."

The DNCC mayor said he had proposed a 10 per cent holding tax rebate for owners of houses who maintain proper rooftop gardens. The Local Government Ministry is now giving that benefit to all city corporations and municipalities, which he called a landmark decision.

"We have only one way to survive: we must plant a large number of trees. Wherever there is open space, trees must be planted and cared for. If we carry on like this, Dhaka will again be a green Dhaka and a complete oxygen hub," he said.

Calling on the DNCC and every other agency not to cut down a single tree under any circumstances, Mayor Atiqul Islam said: "If a tree needs to be cut for any work, let us sit down, discuss it and judge the reality. Cutting down a tree just because you feel like it cannot be allowed."

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