KHULNA, June 10: A meeting of a committee formed to prepare an action plan for tree plantation across the Khulna city was held at the Shaheed Altaf Auditorium of Khulna Nagar Bhaban on Tuesday.
Khulna City Corporation (KCC) Administrator Nazrul Islam Manju attended the meeting as the chief guest.
The meeting was informed that the government has undertaken a programme to plant 250 million trees over the next five years.
In line with the initiative of the Local Government Division, a seven-member committee was formed at a meeting chaired by the KCC administrator on May 14, 2026, to formulate an implementation plan for Khulna metropolitan area.
Addressing the meeting, Manju said the Prime Minister has directed authorities to build green and clean cities, and KCC has been working relentlessly to achieve that goal since assuming responsibility.
He said tree plantation programmes have been launched alongside cleanliness drives to transform Khulna into a greener city.
However, he noted that proper maintenance of planted trees remains a greater challenge than plantation itself and sought cooperation from government and non-government organisations to address the issue.
The meeting adopted several decisions, including plantation of trees on road dividers and along both sides of major roads, use of pickup vehicles and vacuum tanks for watering saplings, selection of tree species by KCC according to location, maintaining inventories for monitoring planted trees, reserving space for seasonal flower plants in parks, and ensuring tree plantation does not hinder future road expansion.
The meeting also decided to establish cattle pounds to discourage the free movement of livestock that could damage saplings and sought manpower support from relevant organisations for plantation and maintenance activities.
The KCC administrator also expressed his commitment to modernising the city through clearing water hyacinths from canals, upgrading markets, relocating roadside markets to suitable locations, and launching the city's recycling plant at the earliest possible time.
KCC Chief Executive Officer Rajib Ahmed presided over the meeting.
Member and Head of the Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline at Khulna University Professor Dr. Md. Nabiul Islam Khan, Additional Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension Md. Abdus Samad, KCC Secretary Md. Reza Rashid, Chief Revenue Officer Rahima Sultana Bushra, Chief Planning Officer Abir Ul Jabbar, representatives of various non-government organisations and ward officials, among others were present.
Later in the afternoon, KCC Administrator Manju addressed an EPI review meeting as the chief guest at the City Health Building on Sher-e-Bangla Road to strengthen the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) activities in Khulna metropolitan area.
The meeting was organised by the Health Department of KCC with support from the UNICEF.
