Sirajganj set a target this year of planting more than 40,000 trees under the government's tree-planting programme, but many saplings have died, and more are dying, within a month to six weeks of planting for lack of watering and protection, Bangla Tribune reports. Records in some unions also show saplings bought and planted at several times the market price.
In Udhunia union of Ullapara, union parishad records show Tk 187,000 allocated for 469 trees, about Tk 399 per tree. Local nursery owners say saplings of these species sell for Tk 50 to 60, making the recorded cost seven to eight times the market rate. In neighbouring Ghurka union of Raiganj, administrative officer Mizanur Rahman said 1,800 trees were planted at Tk 65 to 70 each.
Udhunia's administrative officer Shamsul Alam said the estimate was prepared by LGED sub-assistant engineer Alamgir Hossain and put the cost at about Tk 400 a tree, including care and bamboo guards. Alamgir Hossain did not answer repeated calls. LGED's Ullapara upazila engineer Mohammad Shahidullah said the estimate covers the sapling, planting, fencing and care.
On the ground the picture is different. Of about 200 saplings along part of the Banglapara road in Udhunia, at least 50 are completely dead and several more are dying; many living ones have dried out and some have fallen or lean over. There is no visible sign of regular watering, and most have no bamboo guard or fence against cattle, although watering, guards, fencing and maintenance are all costed in the union's papers.
Abdul Kader Biswas, the union parishad's administrator and upazila secondary education officer, said there is money for planting but no allocation for care, so the saplings were not tended. The programme's chair, union member Beauty Khatun, could not be reached because of illness; her husband, Mainul Hossain, said they had been told nothing about where the saplings were bought or what was spent.
Ullapara upazila nirbahi officer Mohammad Raihanul Islam said care is the responsibility of the union's administrative officer and administrator, and action would be taken for any negligence. Additional deputy commissioner (general) Ganapati Roy said the programme is being implemented as a priority and is not yet finished. The report is by Likhon Ahmed, Bangla Tribune's Sirajganj correspondent.
Source: Bangla Tribune
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