There are several fruit orchards inside the Rajshahi University (RU) campus. This year the university administration leased out some of its mango and lychee orchards, but all the mango and lychee trees from the Syed Ismail Hossain Siraji Bhaban to the area around the central cafeteria have been left open for ordinary students. With no specific rules on the matter, an unhealthy competition has broken out to pick the unripe mangoes and lychees, raising questions about some students' sense of responsibility.

On the ground, students were seen carrying away sacks of unripe lychees and mangoes before they had matured. A contest of sorts has started on campus to pick small, unripe mangoes, and everyone seems keen to pick fruit early. Far from letting the mangoes ripen, some students are busy filling their bags with mangoes whose stones are still soft.

Most mango varieties on campus have not yet matured properly; even the stones have not formed their fibre. The lychees are nothing but stone, and very sour. A crowd of students was seen under the trees behind the Kazi Nazrul Islam Auditorium, some holding large pieces of brick and others broken branches, throwing them at the trees to bring down fruit. Many of the fruits left on the trees are being bruised and will later rot. Students walking nearby are also affected, having to pass under the trees in fear of being hit.

A student named Mahir Alam said a few students are picking mangoes from the campus trees in groups. Some, without understanding, are taking Fazli, Nak Fazli, Langra and other mangoes to their rooms to ripen, not knowing it is not yet time to pick them. "And there is the old habit of one person taking what belongs to a hundred," he said. Many waste half of what they pick, whether or not they can eat it properly.

Bappi, a student of the economics department, said some students are showing a narrow mindset by picking the unripe fruit. "In a few days we would all be eating these. I cannot understand what taste they get from eating unripe mangoes and lychees. I call on the administration to intervene," he said.

University proctor Professor Asabul Haque said he had also received such complaints. With students in mind, the administration did not lease out the mango, lychee and jackfruit trees from the Syed Ismail Hossain Siraji Bhaban to the central cafeteria this year. "But I have heard that some students are picking mangoes by the sack while they are unripe," he said.

He added that after receiving a phone call, he went in front of the RUCSU building before evening the previous day and saw eight to ten students who had picked about 4-5 kg of baby lychees. "I called them baby lychees rather than unripe ones. I asked them, almost with disgust, what they would do with them. They stood with their heads bowed. If we can hold off picking mangoes and lychees for another 15 days, they will be ripe."

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