The construction of several buildings is underway at Jahangirnagar University (JU) and hundreds of trees have already been felled.

The teachers and students of the university claim that the trees are being cut as the buildings have been constructed in an unplanned way. They have been staging a movement over the last five years for a master plan to construct buildings. 

Amid their movement, the authorities have taken initiative to construct two other buildings. More than 200 trees are likely to be cut down for the construction of the extended buildings of four faculties. In the process, a waterbody is also being filled up. 

The protestors say that they have been demonstrating for a long time, demanding that no building be constructed without a master plan. Without paying attention to that demand, the administration has turned its attention to filling up the waterbody. 

As a result, the environment of the entire university is under threat, the protestors allege. If the buildings are constructed this way, it will create a new crisis. On the other hand, the university authorities say that the building site is low-lying land and not a water body. There will be no damage to the surrounding environment or buildings due to the new construction, they added.

According to the University Planning and Development Office, on March 10, the foundation stone for the expanded buildings was laid on the road next to the Physics Building. A six-storey building will be constructed there at a cost of around Tk58 crore.

Immediately, a group of students held a human chain program saying that no building would be allowed without a master plan. After that, the construction was suspended for a few days. However, the contractor built a fence around the site during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays. Currently, excavators are being used to dig the site. Just a short distance from the waterbody, there is a meteorological station of the university, the Department of Environmental Science, the Department of Geological Sciences, and Computer Science and Engineering buildings.

The agitating students said that the global temperature is increasing day by day due to man-made factors such as tree felling, deforestation, unplanned urbanization and the filling of water bodies. Such construction work would be surprising on a university campus, they claimed. 

According to the sources, the authorities decided to construct a building for the Institute of Information Technology at the same site in 2016. In January next year, several department heads wrote the then vice chancellor Professor Farzana Islam not to construct buildings by filling up the waterbody. After that, the administration suspended the construction of the building unofficially.

Alif Mahmud, president of one faction of the JU Chhatra Union, said that the authority had given approval for the construction of the IIT building. However, when the teachers and students of the Faculty of Biological Sciences protested at that time, the plan was suspended. This site is very important for the biodiversity of the university. Migratory birds visit Jahangirnagar every year. Many animals live in the waterbody, he added.

“If you construct a building on the waterbody, you will have to face the adverse effects. The accumulated water and waste of the Faculty of Biological Sciences are deposited in the waterbody. Without it, waterlogging will occur on the campus,” he alleged. 

Meanwhile, the teachers and students agitating for a master plan say that a lecture theatre has been built at the university. A total of 6,500 students can attend classes simultaneously in 65 classrooms in the lecture theatre. They question the necessity of the new buildings after such a large project that is nearly complete. 

The University Cultural Alliance said that their demand since 2019 has been a master plan. However, the university administration ignored the demand and started the contraction project.  After the completion of the two phases, it is becoming very clear that the unplanned buildings will not serve any purpose other than turning the JU into a concrete city.

Lutfal Elahi, a professor at the Department of History, said: "Construction of buildings without any kind of planning is a threat to the overall environment of the university. Recently, there was a clash between students in three halls, which is the result of building without planning.”

In this regard, Professor Farid Ahmed, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, said that the place is not a waterbody but a low land. Besides, when asked about the nearby weather station, he said that there would be no harm in the operation of the nearby weather station if the building was constructed there.

Project Director (PD) Nasir Uddin said: “The policymakers of the university are considering the site as low land. We have also considered the site low-lying. Now the policymakers of the university will be able to tell whether that place is a waterbody or not.”

Vice Chancellor Dr Md Nurul Alam told the media: "It is not a waterbody. A foundation was also laid for a building there earlier in 1981. Later, due to budget shortage, it wasn’t executed. There were also pillars at the site. Some people might have removed the iron rods from the pillars and taken them away. I don't know what happened during the tenure of the former VC. I was not in charge then.”