Govt suspends planting of bonsai along Airport Road

The government has suspended planting of 500 imported Chinese and Taiwanese bonsai Ficus, part of a beautification plan, along a six-km stretch of road between the Banani level crossing and the airport intersection. This comes after criticism from naturalists.Green activists said instead of bonsai, it was important to plant trees that would produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide in Dhaka. The roads and highways department (RHD) has taken up a Tk. 90 crore beautification and pavement maintenance project along the city’s Airport Road. As part of the project, it imported bonsai trees at a cost of Tk. 5.5 crore.
Moreover, Airport Road is caught up in an ownership dispute between the RHD and the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC). The DNCC Mayor, Annisul Huq, said he had requested the RHD to hand over the beautification work to them, as the DNCC was engaged in the cleaning of the road. But the RHD has not responded, he added. Experts say Dhaka needs local species of trees to keep it cool. “We need beautification in the country. Temperatures have gone up in Dhaka, something that city dwellers have experienced in recent days. This is because of lack of trees in the capital,” Abdus Sobhan, former additional director general of the Department of Environment (DoE), told The Independent yesterday. He blamed “indiscriminate cutting” of trees in the city for construction of road islands for the rise in temperature.
“There are a lot of local species that can be used for beautification. They are like factories that release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. Bonsai trees can never give the same service like local trees,” Sobhan said.
Bonsai is a commercial product used for artificial beauty, he added. He suggested that the government should work towards reducing temperatures in the capital by planting local trees instead of the imported bonsai variety.
Efforts to plant bonsai plants should stop at once, the green activist observed, adding that the
government should plant local varieties not only in the capital, but across the country as well.
The road transport and bridges ministry yesterday halted planting of bonsai trees along Airport Road, said a release issued by the ministry. The release said the RHD was developing and maintaining the road since its construction and accused “a quarter with vested interests” of indulging in a false propaganda that claimed that the road was not under the RHD. “The RHD is responsible for beautifying and developing the airport highway as per Right of Way (Row),” the release said and hoped the clarification would end the confusion over jurisdiction. The release also said that following criticism, the road transport and bridges minister, Obaidul Quader, had ordered that planting of imported bonsai trees along Airport Road be stopped.
Mayor Annisul Huq had said earlier that the RHD did not have the authority to take up work like beautification within the city corporation area.

 

Govt suspends planting of bonsai along Airport Road

The government has suspended planting of 500 imported Chinese and Taiwanese bonsai Ficus, part of a beautification plan, along a six-km stretch of road between the Banani level crossing and the airport intersection. This comes after criticism from naturalists.Green activists said instead of bonsai, it was important to plant trees that would produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide in Dhaka. The roads and highways department (RHD) has taken up a Tk. 90 crore beautification and pavement maintenance project along the citys Airport Road. As part of the project, it imported bonsai trees at a cost of Tk. 5.5 crore. Moreover, Airport Road is caught up in an ownership dispute between the RHD and the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC). The DNCC Mayor, Annisul Huq, said he had requested the RHD to hand over the beautification work to them, as the DNCC was engaged in the cleaning of the road. But the RHD has not responded, he added. Experts say Dhaka needs local species of trees to keep it cool. We need beautification in the country. Temperatures have gone up in Dhaka, something that city dwellers have experienced in recent days. This is because of lack of trees in the capital, Abdus Sobhan, former additional director general of the Department of Environment (DoE), told The Independent yesterday. He blamed indiscriminate cutting of trees in the city for construction of road islands for the rise in temperature. There are a lot of local species that can be used for beautification. They are like factories that release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. Bonsai trees can never give the same service like local trees, Sobhan said. Bonsai is a commercial product used for artificial beauty, he added. He suggested that the government should work towards reducing temperatures in the capital by planting local trees instead of the imported bonsai variety. Efforts to plant bonsai plants should stop at once, the green activist observed, adding that the government should plant local varieties not only in the capital, but across the country as well. The road transport and bridges ministry yesterday halted planting of bonsai trees along Airport Road, said a release issued by the ministry. The release said the RHD was developing and maintaining the road since its construction and accused a quarter with vested interests of indulging in a false propaganda that claimed that the road was not under the RHD. The RHD is responsible for beautifying and developing the airport highway as per Right of Way (Row), the release said and hoped the clarification would end the confusion over jurisdiction. The release also said that following criticism, the road transport and bridges minister, Obaidul Quader, had ordered that planting of imported bonsai trees along Airport Road be stopped. Mayor Annisul Huq had said earlier that the RHD did not have the authority to take up work like beautification within the city corporation area.