Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Netrokona-1 (Kalmakanda-Durgapur) MP Barrister Kaiser Kamal has replanted saplings at Bamoni on the Kalmakanda-Thakurakona road in Netrokona, where miscreants had uprooted earlier plantings.

On the afternoon of Friday, 28 August, he planted saplings of various species there, including timber, fruit and medicinal trees.

"Trees keep the environment in balance and give people oxygen. A sapling becomes a big tree only after much care and time. A tree is not just a tree; it is a life. Those who uprooted the saplings in the dark of night killed these trees. This is very sad and condemnable. May Allah guide those who did it," Kaiser Kamal said.

He said another 1,200 saplings would be planted in the same area, with arrangements for their protection and regular care.

The Deputy Speaker said 25 per cent of an area's land should be forest. While various parts of the country have 16 to 20 per cent forest cover on average, Netrokona has only about 1.75 per cent, so trees must be planted on a large scale in the district.

"The administration, government and private offices, teachers and students, and social, cultural and political organisations, people of all walks of life, must turn tree planting into a social movement. If the target of planting 25 crore trees in five years is achieved, it will play an important role in tackling natural disasters and reducing the impact of climate change," he said.

He urged law enforcement agencies to identify those involved in uprooting the saplings quickly and take legal action. Addressing local residents, he said the trees belonged not just to the government but to everyone, that all must come forward to protect them, and that saving a tree means saving a life.

District council administrator Nuruzzaman Nuru, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Education) Munmun Jahan Liza, Kalmakanda Upazila Nirbahi Officer NM Abdullah Al Mamun, Additional Superintendent of Police (Barhatta Circle) Sabbir Hasan, Kalmakanda police station OC Mostafizur Rahman and local administration officials and political leaders were present.

Earlier, on 5 August, as part of the tree-planting programme announced by the Prime Minister, timber, fruit and medicinal saplings were planted in various parts of Kalmakanda on Kaiser Kamal's initiative. Thousands of saplings were planted on both sides of about 10 kilometres of the Kalmakanda-Thakurakona road, from the petrol pump area to Hirakanda, and bamboo guards were put up to protect them from cattle and goats.

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