JU students protested deforestation for development works

The students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) staged a protest march against the ongoing development activities, including the construction of the IBA building and the third administrative building, which lacked a master plan, yesterday. They expressed their concerns about land appropriation, deforestation, and the disruption of the environmental balance. 

The protest began with a short rally at the Bat-tala area of the university on Wednesday at 2 pm. Moving through various important streets, the march concluded at the construction site of the IBA building. Throughout the protest march, the students chanted slogans such as 'Immediate formulation of the master plan' and 'We oppose the wastage of public money and deforestation.'

During the assembly before the march, Moutusi Zubaida Rahman, the general secretary of Zahir Raihan Film Society, emphasised the necessity of a master plan for the university. She remarked, "Although alternative sites are available, the chosen site for the IBA building construction is home to approximately 250 trees and numerous animals. We will not allow the steps taken by the administration to destroy this forested land. An alternative location may be allocated for the IBA building."

Riddha Anindya Ganguly, Joint Secretary of Bangladesh Students' Union-JU, criticised the university administration for neglecting environmental concerns while the rest of the world is actively addressing climate change. 

Ganguly acknowledged the need for an IBA building but proposed constructing it at an alternative location to avoid further environmental destruction. 

"How can the administration carry out such a big project without a master plan?" he asked. 

In his concluding remarks, the President of Jahangirnagar Cultural Alliance, Soumik Bagchi, said, "We have been demanding the master plan for a long time. Many buildings of Jahangirnagar University have been kept incomplete, why is the administration so interested in constructing new buildings instead of making them complete?"

Then, the marching students displayed a banner titled 'cutting trees is prohibited' at the designated construction site for the IBA building.

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