Writ seeks directives to stop injudicious tree felling

City Desk  :
Human rights organization Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed a writ in the relevant branch of the High Court on Sunday.
The writ petitioners on behalf of HRPB are advocates Md Sarwar Ahad Chowdhury, Md Ekhlas Uddin Bhuiyan and Ripon Barai.
The secretary of the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister’s Office’s chief secretary, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change secretary, and the director general of Bangladesh Police have been made defendants in the writ.
According to court sources, the writ may be heard in the High Court bench comprising Justice Md Khasruzzaman and Justice KM Zahid Sarwar. Senior Advocate Manzil Murshed will be hearing on behalf of the writ.
It is claimed in the writ petition that the number of plants required for healthy living in Dhaka city is decreasing day by day. The recent increase in temperature is making the living conditions of people more miserable, violating the right to live decently.
On the other hand, cutting down the trees planted in the community forestry contracts across the country has an adverse effect on the environment. If this is not stopped, Bangladesh’s environment will be damaged and people’s right to live will be severely damaged.
Several directions have been sought in the writ, as follows:
The Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change shall establish a seven-member committee within seven days, comprising environmentalists, environmental scientists, and professors from the environmental science departments of Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University. The committee will be tasked with regulating tree cutting in Dhaka city, permitting it only when deemed necessary.