A rally was held in Sunamganj on Saturday against the felling of several thousand trees along the Sunamganj-Jamalganj road, with organisers demanding an immediate halt to the ongoing cutting.
Where and Who Organised the Rally
The gathering took place on Saturday afternoon in the Ichcharchar area of Sunamganj Sadar upazila, organised by Haor O Nodi Rakkha Andolon, a local organisation focused on protecting the region’s haor wetlands and rivers. The rally drew residents and environmental advocates concerned about the scale of tree removal underway along the route.
The Scale of the Felling
Speakers at the rally said the forest department is cutting down nearly 4,500 trees along the 19-kilometre stretch of road running from the district headquarters to Sachna Bazar in Jamalganj upazila. According to speakers, more than 1,000 trees have already been felled as the work has progressed.
What Speakers Said
Addressing the gathering, speakers called for the tree cutting to be stopped without delay, framing the felling as a threat to the district’s haor ecosystem. Sunamganj sits within Bangladesh’s low-lying haor wetland belt, where mature roadside trees are widely seen as playing a role in stabilising embankments, moderating local temperatures and supporting the broader wetland environment during the monsoon season.
Why This Matters for Sunamganj
The Sunamganj-Jamalganj road passes through terrain that floods seasonally, and roadside trees along such routes are often relied upon to reduce soil erosion along embankments in addition to providing shade. Organisers of Saturday’s rally argued that removing nearly 4,500 trees along a single 19-kilometre stretch would represent a significant loss of green cover for a district already contending with the environmental pressures common to the haor region.
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What Happens Next
With more than a thousand trees already cut and the felling reportedly continuing, Haor O Nodi Rakkha Andolon and residents who joined Saturday’s rally are expected to keep pressing the forest department and local authorities to halt further cutting. Whether the protest leads to a pause in the work or a revised plan for the remaining stretch of road remains to be seen.
Summary: A rally organised by Haor O Nodi Rakkha Andolon at Ichcharchar in Sunamganj Sadar upazila protested the forest department’s felling of nearly 4,500 trees along the 19-kilometre Sunamganj-Jamalganj road, with speakers demanding the cutting be stopped immediately.
