At the confluence of the Padma and Baral rivers in Charghat, Rajshahi, a plantation known locally as the "mini Sundarbans" is being cut down at night. A gang fells large trees with chainsaws and carries them to sawmills by mini-truck or van, leaving only stumps. After the trees along village roads, those on the riverbank protection embankment are now disappearing too.
Environmental groups say at least 5,000 trees have been cut in the upazila over the past two years, yet no government office has filed a complaint with the police, while the Forest Department, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and the Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) each try to avoid responsibility. The upazila forest office says about 100,000 social-forestry trees stand along some 100 km of Charghat's roads and riverbanks, plus about 20,000 planted by LGED and BMDA, aged 5 to 30 years.
After the Baral's source was dredged in 2009, more than 5,000 trees, including khair, mahogany and koroi, were planted at the confluence to protect a BGB camp, the police station, the upazila office and nearby schools from erosion. Local farmer Moktar Hossain says the gang comes at night and the foresters never visit. Abdul Mannan of the social forestry committee says the cutters carry local weapons, though the Forest Department has been told.
Residents say the gang works from 1am to 4am, felling pre-marked trees in five to seven minutes; sawmills cut them up so fast that their origin is hard to trace. Mahogany worth lakhs of taka has been cut along the Bankra Bazar-Raipur road in Bhayalakshmipur union, and about 300 trees are alleged to have been taken without a tender when the Habibpur-Moulbhag-Basudebpur road was widened.
The Forest Department says only 13 of Charghat's 38 sawmills are licensed. Residents allege that the failure to act against the unlicensed mills makes stolen timber easy to sell, and a forest officer faces accusations of neglect. Mizanur Rahman, chairman of Nimpara union parishad, says old government trees should be sold by tender and replanted, or the roadsides will one day be bare.
The report is by Samakal's Charghat (Rajshahi) correspondent.
Source: samakal
Comments
(0)