Citizens on Saturday demanded the government take immediate steps to stop developing lands of the 90-year-old government nursery in Baily Road area of the city.
They organised a sit-in programme in front of the Fine Arts Faculty at Dhaka University in protest against a government move to raise a building on the nursery land.
The programme was jointly organised by Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa), Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba), Bangladesh Environment Lawyers’ Association (Bela), Green Voice and the Movement to Protect Bailey Road Government Nursery.
The protest programme was organised as Housing and Public Works Ministry and CHT Affairs Ministry have already taken steps to build a CHT Complex on the nursery lands.
Speaking on the occasion, noted columnist Syed Abul Maksud said the Baily Road nursery has been a witness to the history of the capital.
Besides, the nursery is revered as a repository of saplings of traditional plants, he added.
The nursery at 33 Baily Road has been providing 230 species of trees over the last 67 years and thus playing a crucial role in the greenery of the city, where trees are reduced year-on-year, noted the organizers of the movement.
A building can be raised at many other places, but a well-established nursery that can culture a wide range of plants can not be created vary easily, they observed.
Given the area and population of Dhaka, the city must have 10 such nurseries to ensure adequate greenery, they said.
The Baily Road nursery has the capacity to distribute more than 10 lakh saplings a year.
Source: UNBConnect
