Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam has made an announcement to plant two lakh trees in Dhaka North City area in the next two years to control the heat wave.

He made the announcement while speaking as the chief guest at the launching ceremony of an international collaboration between Disaster Science and Climate Resilience Department of Dhaka University and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) in collaboration with Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Resilience Center (Arsht-Rock) to build resilience to climate-driven heat on Wednesday.

Mayor Atiqul Islam said, "Today is a special day for my city. The Arsht-Rock Foundation will work together with the DNCC to reduce the city's temperature. A Chief Heat Officer (CHO) has been appointed for Dhaka North City Corporation, who will take various programs to reduce the temperature of the city in collaboration with Arsht-Rock."

The DNCC Mayor also said that the temperature of Dhaka city is constantly increasing.

"As a result of the heat, the lives and livelihood of the city people are under threat. Human performance is decreasing, health is at risk. Due to the reduced working hours of working people, there is financial loss. I hope that the joint initiative of DNCC and Arsht-Rock will be able to build a safe and cool Dhaka by reducing the temperature," he said.

Kathy Baughman McLeod, director and senior Vice President of Arsht-Rock, said the intense heat flow is acting like a pressure cooker in cities around the world, and the risk is greater here because of the high population density of Dhaka North.

Among others, DU Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic) Prof ASM Maksud Kamal, UK Deputy High Commissioner to Bangladesh Matt Cannell and Senior Adviser at the Adrienne Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center Mauricio Rodas were present at the programme.