No more cutting trees for making roads: Deputy minister for environment

Deputy Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Habibun Nahar said today trees will not be cut down anymore for making roads.

"A lot of trees have been cut in the name of making roads by deceiving the prime minister but that has stopped now. The prime minister has realised this [issue] and now approves road construction projects only after proper verification," she said while speaking as a chief guest at a dialogue on Reducing Pollution for Greening Cities organised by the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at BRAC Center on Wednesday (27 September).

Habibun Nahar said, engineers presented proposals for big road construction projects to the prime minister and she also gave permission.

Then the trees in the project area were cut down, she added.

Stating that roads are constructed abroad keeping forests intact, she said project authorities in the country indiscriminately cut trees despite being well aware of its adverse effects on the environment.

"Our prime minister understands this. She is rejecting many projects that require cutting trees," she further said.