EDITORIAL
Tree-cutting galore in Lalmonirhat
Administration turns a blind eye
WHILE environmental activists and media scream away about environmental degradation, we have stood by as silent spectators to the horror of 500 trees felled along the Mogholhat-Durgapur road at Durgapur village in Aditmari upazila under Lalmonirhat district in recent days.
It is disheartening to say the least that ruling party men in collaboration with unscrupulous members of local administration have carried out the misdeed at no less than five upazilas of Lalmonirhat. Giving contracts for cutting of trees is a normal administrative function. What is not normal is the open flouting of terms of contract whereby a great many more trees are cut down for profit. The shocking part of this woeful tale is that the trees being decimated are precious ones like Mahogany that apparently fetch as much as Tk2.5million a piece on the market.
Unbridled profiteering appears to have become the norm of the day—a practice that seems to have become commonplace in every part of the country. And this is evident more than ever as district authorities turn a deaf ear to complaints from the local populace. Trees and forests are a natural guard against natural calamities such as floods. Such folly cannot be condoned but it is in a land where the lure of cash is corrupting and corrupting absolutely.
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