Tree plantation along a Feeder road (Gaindasur - Patkelbari

Kaligonj FRB Road) under Gopalganj district & its Cost-Benefit

analysis

Introduction:
LGED has been undertaking a lot of infrastructure development works
throughout country under various projects financed by both GOB and foreign
donors (Development Partners). At present, under Greater Faridpur
Infrastructure Development Project (GFRIDP-24) development works have been
going on in 27 upazilas of 5 districts viz. Faridpur, Rajbari, Madaripur, Shariatpur
and Gopalgonj. The project started in 1998-1999 and planned to be continued up
to June 30, 2005. The project has been launched with the financial assistance of
Bangladesh government, while the financial support by Japan Bank for
International Co-operation (JBIC) has commenced from 2001-2002 (Loan
agreement no. BD-48), beside the financial assistance of Bangladesh
government. The components of the project items include development of
Feeder Roads Type B (FRB), Rural Roads (RR), construction of bridges and
culverts, development of Growth Center Markets (GCM), Construction of Union
Councils (UPC), Pipe Culvert Construction and Installation (PCCI); and tree
plantation and care taking. However, hereunder the impact and effect of the
construction of a single road is placed to have an idea about the profound
benefit that may accrue to the national economy provided sincere attention be
paid to the various aspects of project job during implementation stages.

Gaindasur – Patkelbari - Kaligonj road is one of such FRBs, which is being

developed under the project. The road connects the Gopalgonj- Tekerhat
highway from the point of Gaindashur, which is a bus stand, with Kotalipara -
Rajoir highway, having total length of 11.55km. approximately. The development
work has components of Earthwork, Sand filling, Aggregate Sand (AS), Water
Bound Macadam (WBM), and Bituminous Carpeting (BC) etc. The development
work also comprises of construction of 6 nos. of bridges, 4 box culverts on the
road. Out of total 11.55 km. length, about 2 km. roads from Gaindasur to
Patkelbari, has been developed beforehand. So, under RDP-24, total 9.55 km.
has been undertaken for development work of which 5.847 km. is under
Gopalgonj Sadar and 3.705 km. is under Kotalipara upazila totaling 9.552 kms.
development work.

Geographical location and importance of the road:

The road passes from Gaindasur to Kaligonj Growth Center along the bank of a
canal through Patkelbari. Growth Center. Once this canal was the only means of
transportation in this area and also source of fishes, irrigation water for
cultivation and bathing space for the local people. Some by-canals have criss-
crossed originating from the main canal, over which bridges and culverts have
been constructed, so that natural flow of water is not hampered. At present, this
once-important-canal remains dry during dry season due to silt deposit on the
canal bed. The road passes through Patkelbari G.C.; Domrasur bazar, Kaligonj
G.C. and then joins with Kotalipara – Rajoir highway. There are 3 high schools, 5
to 6 primary schools and some NGO offices along the sides of the road. The
bazars and markets along the road serve as the trade and business centers for
this locality. The school & ‘pathshalas’ have very important role to play in socio-
economic development activities through imparting education both at primary
and secondary level. On both sides of the road agricultural land stretches wide.
Main agricultural crops are paddy, nuts, sugar cane, watermelon, onion, garlic,
mustard seeds, summer and winter vegetables etc. In the beel, by the side of the
road, fished are abundant. But due to shrinkage of water bodies, many species of
fish are decaying day by day.

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 Small cottage industries like mini rice mill, flourmill, sugar cane crusher and
molasses cottage industry, saw mills are found along the roadsides. At present,
around 250 nos. of manually driven vans ply through this road, which are the
main means of communication. Before the construction of the road, people of
the zone of influence of the road used to walk on foot through the kutcha road
and at that time, boats were the main mode of communication during rainy
season. It was very difficult to go from one end of the road to other end. It took
several hours to cross 13km path, which now take only 1 hour at best to cover by
a van driven manually. In those days people hardly went to distant places due to
difficulty in communication. Many people use bicycle to move from one place to
another through this road now a days.
Construction of the road has created a base to plant trees along the slope of the
road, which has very good effect on environment in this locality. Plantation is a
significant part of the project implemented along both sides of the road. It has
created very good scenic beauty, purifies environment and helps passersby by
supplying shade. Inspired by this plantation people of this region have been
planting trees around their homestead, in fallen land areas, and even some has
taken up projects of nursery and gardening of wood, herbal and fruit trees.
Moreover, since LCS groups are employed in plantation and care taking jobs, it
has created employment opportunities for the poor, landless & helpless women
of the project area These once unemployed women have also got training on
various topics related to human resources development, Income Generation
Activities (IGA) and thus have become more confident and conscious than they
were in their past life.

Cost of the project:

Total tendered value of 9.552 km. road plus 80 meters bridge and box culverts
covering 9.632 km. (approx.) construction work has involved cost of Tk.50,
851,978.00 @Tk.5, 279,482.70 per km. including bridges and culverts. But
considering only road construction including earthwork and carpeting, per km.
cost is Tk. 3,377,597.00. Construction cost of bridges per meter is Tk. 9,4881.00
(one lac taka approx.) i.e., per km. bridge construction cost is Tk. 94,881,000.00
(Taka ten crore approx. only). The construction cost of bridge is much more
higher than that of road construction cost.

Cost of plantation:
Tree plantation, which is a major component of the project, has been undertaken
along both sides of the road for 6 (six) km. (running meter). As per schedule,
6,666 plants along 6 kms. @ 1,111 numbers of plants per kilometer have been
planted and total plantation cost including caretakers’ salary for 2 yrs. @ 43.00
per day/per person would be Tk. 503,334.00 (Plantation cost of 6666 plants
@Tk.19.00 is Tk.126, 654.00 + caretakers salary @Tk.43.00 for 12 LCS members
for 2 years is Tk.376, 680.00). Considering 3 years care takers’ salary, total coast
of plantation of 6 km. would be Tk. 126,254.00+565,020.00 = Tk. 691,674.00.
So, for 66666 nos. of plants cost per tree would be Tk. 76.00 and Tk. 104.00
considering 2 and 3 years caretakers’ salary respectively.

Cost Benefit Analysis:

Cost of plantation (as per estimate) :

(Tk.)
1. Seedling 1.5m height (min) incld. carrying to the plantation site
9.00
2. 1.5 meter long bamboo split including tying rope
& sharpening and placing into
ground up to 500mm depth

3.00
3. Supplying fertilizer 50gms NPK & 2kg manure for each plant

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 3.00

4. Cost of labour to dig hole and planting each seedlings 4.00

5. Cost of plantation per tree:

..........................
19.00

N. B.
a) Distance from tree to tree (Timber tree) 5.4km & for quick growing trees
at an interval of 1.8m in the 1st row.
b) The second row will follow 1.8m distances from plant to plant (Schedule of
rates) RDP-24, Gopalgonj – 2003-2004.
Rows of Arhar (pigeon pea) 1.5m-slope distance from crest shall be provided as a
natural fence and protect trees from cows and goats. (Schedule)

Caretaking cost:
Per 500m (555nos. of trees) one caretaker was employed to take care of the
plants.
Salary of the C.T. was fixed considering 365 working days in a year. Yearly salary
at the rate of Tk. 43.00 / per day is Tk.15,695.00 per labour. Considering 3 years
of care taking cost of C.T. for 555 nos. of plant would be Tk. 47,085.00

Care taking cost per tree is

Tk.85.00

(Instruments cost per caretaker for 3 yrs. is Tk.455.00)

Cost of instruments:
i. Sickle - 40.00
ii. Bucket - 100.00
iii. Spade - 150.00
iv. Mug - 20.00
v. Basket - 130.00
vi. Flag - 15.00
----------------
Total cost 455.00
Per plant is (0.82) approx : Tk.1.00
Cost of sign board : Tk.500.00
Per plant cost for signboard : Tk.1.00
Considering 3 yrs. caretaker wages of Tk.47085.00 per tree cost is Tk.85.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Per tree cost Tk.106.00
Cost of plantation 19.00+ cost of instrument per tree 1.00+cost of signboard per
tree 1.00 +cost of care taking per tree for 3 years 85.00 totaling Tk.106.00

Benefit & Costing:

Per tree cost considering 3 yrs. care taking wage is Tk. 106.00. Consider 10%
extra cost to be involved in applying insecticides, fertilizers, replacement of dead
plants by new seedlings etc. amounting to Tk.10.00
Total cost would be maximum Tk.116.00 per tree. For the sake of simplicity,
consider that this cost involves in the plantation program with 3 years care
taking wages. Investing only Tk. 116.00 per tree unbelievable amount of benefit
could be achieved from plantation schemes.

Benefit to be accrued from each plant:

Its assumed that after 15yrs the trees will be matured to be sold as timber and
another assumption is that after 20 yrs. the trees will be matured to be sold as

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timber. It’s been found that a timber tree such as Mehogoni can produce
minimum 10 cft. solid wood; and huge branches and leaves that maybe used as
fuel creating extra benefit to the people. Considering price of Tk.1000.00 per cft.
on an average for each tree after 15yrs. its value will be Tk. 10,000.00; except
the values of fire items (Branches & leaves) generated throughout the tree’s 15
yrs. life. At this rate for each Kilometer road considering 1000 nos. matured tree,
which would produce 10,000 cft. wood having total value of Tk.10,000,000.00
(one crore). At this rate, after 20 yrs. each tree would produce 15 cft. wood and
its value would be TK. 15,000.00. From one kilometer road, 15,000 cft. wood
would be yielded and its sale value would be Tk. 15,000,000.00 (one crore and
fifty lacs). Considering 12% rate of interest and discounting on the basis of that
rate, the value of wood of each tree would be Tk.3624.00 for 15 yrs & 3876.00
for 20 yrs. Net value would be 3,624.00-116.00 = 3,508.00 & 3,760.00 (approx).
Discounting technique has been applied to convert value of money after 15
years and 20 years from now on to present day value at prevailing market rate
of interest. It means that actual value of Tk.10,000.00 after 15 years is just
equivalent of Tk.3500.00 of today. Time value of money can be realized through
discounting technique.

It’s interesting to note that by selling after 15 yrs. of plantation, we can have net
profit of Tk. 3,500.00 per tree and Tk.3,700.00 after 15 yrs. & 20 yrs.
respectively. It’s clear that waiting for more 5 yrs. we can have extra gain of only
Taka 200.00 per tree. So, it’s better to sell after 15 yrs. & replant again.

(P/F at 12% for 15 yrs. is 0.3624 & for 20 yrs. is 0.2584)

Per kilometer benefit would be Tk. 3500.00 x 1000 nos. (average) =
3,500,000.00 which covers the construction cost of the road. Supplying of fuel
items such as leaves, branches, and fruits from plantation site etc. are not
included in this benefit calculation. Moreover, the intangible benefits such as
environmental effect, scenic beauty, barring land sliding, protecting roads slope
area from rain cut & other sorts of damages, providing habitat for birds &
keeping ecological balance, protecting locality acting as safe guard during
cyclone; fighting warming up of climate, providing shelter & shades to passersby,
acting as guards to save vehicles to fell to watery bodies along road side in case
of accidents, acting as agents of oxygen supplier etc, a host of intangible
benefits if could be valued in monetary terms, one could see, how much
unthinkable benefit can be generated to national socio-economy from plantation
program.

Share distribution of tree asset from matured wood among

stakeholders:
As per guideline given in manual circulated by LGED tree caretakers of relevant
sections of plantation sites, roadside landowners and concerned union council
parishads have been considered as stake holders. These three groups would get
benefit generated in the plantation site including fuel items, fruits and matured
wood. It has been mentioned that LCS group would get 40% of total sale proceed
of matured wood, land owners along plantation site would get 30% and the
Union Parishad would get the rest 30% of total sale proceed of wood after 15 or
20 years of plantation.

Considering 1000 nos. of survived matured tree per kilometer after 15 years
producing 10 cft. wood per tree total wood per km. would be 10,000 cft.
Considering value of wood per cft. Tk. 1000.00, total value of wood would be Tk.
be 10,000,000.00 (one crore) per 1 km.. Assuming 20 years life of trees and
production of 15 cft. wood, total wood production from 1000 nos. of tree would
be 15000 cft. and its value would be Tk. 15,000,000.00 (one crore and fifty lacs).
Considering 15 years life, the 2 caretakers for each km. would get Tk.
4000000.00 (forty lacs) i,e, each LCS labour will get Tk. 2000000.00 (twenty
lacs). The UP will get 3000000.00 and landowners will get 3000000.00 (thirty
lacs each). Following the principle of “Benefit to whom-so-ever it may accrue”
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plantation is a very prospective scheme under LGED’s infrastructure
development programmes. The proper authority of planning and management
may consider a point that the capital invested in the project may get its
remuneration from benefit derived from the project. If 4 stake holders may be
counted in lieu of 3 stakeholders involving capital and a share were fixed for
capital, it could be reinvested in new projects and ultimately could contribute to
national economy.

The writer of the article proposes that the following share percentage of
plantation scheme would help to generate recurring benefit from capital invested
in plantation schemes.

Capital’s remuneration from wood value: 50%

LCS groups’ remuneration from wood value 20%
Union Parishad’s share 15%
Landowners’ share 15%
.....................
Total share: 100%

As per this share distribution criterion, from each kilometer road LGED would
have a share of Tk. 5,000,000.00 (fifty lacs) after 15 years of plantation.
Discounting at the rate of 12%, its present worth is Tk. 1,812,000.00 (Eighteen
lac twelve thousand). We have seen that construction cost of one-kilometer
feeder road is more or less Taka Thirty five lacs. So, if the policy makers
rearrange the share distribution of plantation scheme, half of the construction
cost could be covered from wood sale, which is a by-product of the infrastructure
development project.

Employment and income generation of the poor is the main goal of the project. It
is clear that plantation along feeder road would contribute a lot to the national
economy provided the plants are taken care of properly. To achieve the desired
benefit from this scheme uninterrupted monitoring is a prerequisite, so that any
loopholes could be detected in time and remedial measures could be taken as
per need. At last it could be said that already the people have accepted
plantation and in areas of rural Bangladesh gardens of various wood trees are
found along roadside. To make this attempt a great success vigorous
propaganda and technical and financial assistance from government and non-
government organizations is very much needed. Last but not least, only
plantation is not enough. To make the scheme successful, proper care taking,
nursing, applying manure, fertilizer and insecticides in time, arousing peoples
interest and sympathy towards plantation are pre-requisite. There is no doubt
that if plantation along the thousands of kilometers of roadsides of our country
were implemented, our country would be forest affluent with in two decades.

Prepared by
Kanai Lal Nath
Sociologist
RDP-24; LGED
Gopalgonj
2nd March 2004

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