Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) administrator Mohammad Ejaz has said the whole of Uttara will be brought under a "green belt", and a planned community tree-planting programme has begun with that aim.

He was speaking on Wednesday (16 July) at the launch of the programme beside Lake 4, next to Diabari Bridge 5 in Sector 15 of Uttara's third phase.

A DNCC press release on Thursday (17 July) said the corporation has taken up a large afforestation programme to plant five lakh trees this monsoon to protect Dhaka's environment and reduce air pollution. The three-month programme aims to build a liveable, green Dhaka.

At the launch, 500 saplings of native species were planted with funding from the private financial institution IDLC Finance Limited and the help of the environmental organisation Green Savers.

Speaking as chief guest, the administrator said government action alone is not enough, and citizens are being involved to ensure active community participation and create a sense of community and ownership. That is the aim of the programme.

He said a target of planting five lakh trees this monsoon had been set to protect Dhaka's ecological balance, reduce air pollution and safeguard public health. The trees will be planted on road dividers, in parks, playgrounds, along canals, in graveyards and in areas where low-income people live.

He said five rivers once flowed through Dhaka. Khidir Khal was a branch of the Konai river, and it has now been connected to Tongi Khal and made to flow again. Through such projects the corporation is working to bring back the city's natural waterways.

Mohammad Ejaz said people claim there is no room to plant trees in the city, yet if trees are planted in a planned way beside Dhaka's water bodies (lakes, canals and rivers), about 500 kilometres along both banks of canals and rivers could be planted. This would protect biodiversity and make the city climate resilient.

IDLC's head of learning and development and CSR Farhana Sharmin, Green Savers chief executive Ahsan Rony and other senior officials of DNCC, IDLC and Green Savers were present. Administrator Ejaz thanked IDLC and Green Savers for partnering in such an important and timely environmental initiative.

The saplings planted include hijal, banyan, kadam, krishnachura, fig, chhatim, jam, jamrul, neem and arjun, which are suited to planting along rivers and canals. Green Savers will look after the trees.

Speakers hoped that, with citizens' active participation, the programme would become a sustainable model for protecting the environment.

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