Man arrested for felling 50 Bakul trees on Dhaka-Ctg highway
He was produced in a court today and the court subsequently ordered authorities to send him to jail
Police have arrested a man for cutting down at least 50 Bakul trees planted along the Dhaka-Chattogram highway in the Beltoli area of Cumilla Sadar South upazila.
The arrestee has been identified as Md Azmir Hossain, 37.
Azmir was arrested during a police drive in Beltoli after the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) filed a case against him at the Cumilla Sadar South Model Police Station last night, said Mohammad Selim, officer-in-charge of the police station.
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He was produced in a court today (16 November) and the court subsequently ordered authorities to send him to jail.
Azmir, a resident of Sawratoli village in Cumilla Sadar South upazila, lives near the gate of the yet-to-be-inaugurated 100-bed children's hospital in Beltoli, where he sells tea and biscuits. The cut Bakul trees, each more than nine years old, had been planted by the RHD Department to beautify the highway.
Ruhul Amin, executive assistant of Cumilla RHD who filed the case, said 17 Bakul trees were cut at once in front of the hospital, while other trees were destroyed in the surrounding area.
Khandaker Golam Mostafa, Executive Engineer of Cumilla RHD, said new trees would be planted to replace those cut down.
The Dhaka-Chattogram highway was converted to a four-lane road in 2016, and in addition to beautification, various species of trees were planted along the divider to prevent vehicle headlights from blinding drivers in opposite lanes.
Over a stretch of about 143 kilometres, including 192 kilometres from Daudkandi in Cumilla to Chattogram City Gate, more than 50,000 flowering trees — including Bakul, Kanchan, Karabi, Gandharaj, Kurchi, Radhachura, Haimanti, Tagor, Sonalu, Krishnachura, Kadam, Palash and others — have been planted.
Additionally, over 40,000 trees of various species such as olive, arjun, jackfruit, mahogany, shishu, akashmani, and neem have been planted along the roadside and dividers.
The Beltoli section of Cumilla had been specifically beautified with Bakul trees.
