Mayor Atiq to protest if govt agencies fell Dhaka trees

Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam said on Sunday that he would protest himself if any of the government agencies in the capital construct any structure by destroying trees.

He also laid emphasis on controlling pollution of Dhaka to save it by recovering the canals, playgrounds and kitchen markets from encroachment, making the canals pollution free, introducing school buses and reducing private cars, which will ultimately help combat traffic congestion and sustain the city. 

"Human beings are destroying nature. Many structures are being constructed by felling trees in Dhaka city. But we need climate justice to save the city," Atiqul Islam told a seminar on 'Climate Change and Environment Degradation: Call for Transformative Changes' organised by Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology in the city.

Referring to the Setu Bhaban and BRTA Bhaban at Chairmanbari of Banani, which were constructed by felling trees of the surrounding areas, the mayor said that the city corporation has taken steps to stop the construction works.   

"If any structure is constructed there by felling trees, I myself will protest. No city forest should be destroyed under any circumstances," he added. 

Regarding canal recovery, Atiqul Islam said that the city corporation took charge of the canals from Dhaka Wasa. 

"We have to move forward towards the nature-based solution. The canals have been polluted with garbage thus destroying the fish farming and turning it into the breeding grounds of mosquitoes," he said.    

He said that the drive to disconnect the sewerage lines of the Banani, Gulshan and Baridhara areas would start from Thursday showing people that the lines are polluting the canals. But people of those areas live in expensive buildings, he added.     

"If there is a sewerage management system at source, the environment of the city will remain good and the canals will also be free from pollution," he said.

Atiqul Islam said that many developer companies have encroached the canals and filled those with sands to sell them as plots. They showed the playground and kitchen markets in their designs when they sold pots. But later they turned the playgrounds and the kitchen markets into plots due to the high price of land. 

"We will recover those playgrounds and kitchen markets as per the approved design of Rajuk," he said.