Illegal motorcycle riding continues on the sidewalks of the capital city flouting the rules as well a High Court order with the police looking the other way. In the absence of enforcement riders use the sidewalks as their free way to the detriment of the pedestrians. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police and its traffic wing pay ... Read more
Headlines
No specific date for completion of work
JATRABARI FLYOVER No specific date for completion of work After missing out on several deadlines, the government seems unwilling to give a specific date for commissioning of the under-construction Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover, apparently due to slow pace in the project implementation. Slow progress of construction forced the local government division to postpone the opening of the ... Read more
Faulty design halts construction
Moghbazar-Mouchak Flyover Faulty design halts construction The work of the 8.25 kilometre Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover has been almost suspended six months after the start of its construction because of faulty design, said officials. Experts and consultants said that the project cost, estimated at Tk 772.7 crore, could increase due to the delay and initiatives to redesign ... Read more
Pollution engulfs Gulshan Lake
Gulshan Lake and its surroundings continue to be polluted as household wastes and sewage find their way into the water body. Local people and environmentalists have alleged that for lack of enforcement of law and proper planning the lake is continuously getting polluted. Habibur Rahman, a resident of Gulshan 2, blamed the authorities for inadequate ... Read more
Sand trading or river grabbing?
Govt launches drive to protect Turag, locals sceptic In a drive against river grabbing often under the cover of sand trading, the Dhaka district administration yesterday removed heaps of sand from the foreshore of the Turag river, but did not arrest or fine anyone. Administration officials, who conducted the drive at Sinnirtek in the capital’s Mirpur, ... Read more
Beautified Hatirjheel attracts visitors
It’s now a recreation spot Hatirjheel seems to be a picture of Dhaka we could dream of. It is indeed a small piece of the capital that stood aloof from the rest. The sight of its jam-free express roads, uncluttered footpaths, modern bridges, walkways along a lake stretching as far as our eyes can see ... Read more
Biting cold batters life
Mercury dips 45-year low; 82 deaths reported in a week; more cold spells this month A record-breaking cold spell sent the mercury plummeting across the country yesterday, with Dinajpur experiencing 3.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest in almost half a century. Many thousand people suffered badly as the persisting chilly weather with strong winds sent them ... Read more
River commission to have little power
Cabinet Okays River Protection Bill River commission to have little power It can only recommend measures; greens doubt its effectiveness as grabbing, pollution go on In the wake of river grabbing and pollution, the government is forming the National River Protection Commission which will only make recommendations but have no statutory power of implementation. Green ... Read more
Smiles, all around
Children get free textbooks on first day of New Year Children began this year in a festive mood with new textbooks in hand yesterday. Gifts awaited them at schools across the country as they woke up to the first morning of 2013 to celebrate “Textbook Festival Day”. Students of primary and secondary grades were beaming ... Read more
Welcome 2013
Revellers poured out into the streets singing and dancing and exploding crackers to usher in the year 2013 as the clock struck midnight past Monday amid jubilation. Security was heightened in Dhaka and other cities to fend off any untoward incidents during New Year celebrations. Hundreds of peoples, especially the youths, started thronging Dhaka University campus, ... Read more
Biting cold grips country
Fog disrupts communications Dense fog coupled with bitter cold has disrupted movement of all modes of transport across the country in the last two days, causing immense sufferings to passengers. Ferry services remained stalled for hours and launches anchored mid-river, and bus and train trips were delayed. A cold spell has been sweeping the country ... Read more
Tigers wrap up series in rousing style
Bangladesh kept their cool under pressure as they beat West Indies by two wickets in the fifth one-day international to clinch the five-match series 3-2 in Dhaka on Saturday. Nasir Hossain played a crucial unbeaten innings of 39 as the home side became third time lucky to pull off a win in having wasted a ... Read more
Rivers officially made thinner
Faulty demarcation encourages encroachers; ministerial recommendations for pillar relocation ignored The rivers of Dhaka are destined to remain narrow as the shipping ministry has expressed its inability to fully rectify the faulty demarcation of the streams despite a High Court order and subsequent ministerial decision. An extensive visit revealed that relevant district administrations and officials ... Read more
Highly risky yet in high demand
Tin Housing in Dhaka Highly risky yet in high demand The acrid stench of burnt metal still hangs heavy in the air on the spot where Mohammad Karim’s house once stood. It ceased to exist last Thursday, reducing Karim and a thousand others to the role of helpless bystanders as it razed swiftly to the ... Read more
Dhaka too noisy
Call for tough action against polluters The capital’s noise pollution is driving its citizens crazy. The most comm on sources of noise pollution here are the construction and transportation systems. Despite having a law to check the pollution, city dwellers, especially the heart patients, senior citizens and children, have no respite from noise, as loud ... Read more
Sewage goes straight into Buriganga
Wasa disowns 70pc of total sewage in Dhaka A year after the High Court directed Dhaka Wasa to seal off sewage outlets into the Buriganga, Wasa says 70 percent of the capital’s sewage is illegally dumped into the Buriganga. Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) said it had no sewage lines of its own ... Read more
Elephants vs people
Kurkuttipara offers a classic case of human-animal conflict. In this remote place beyond Barkal of Rangamati, villagers cannot hate anything more than the herd of nine elephants. Even the mind boggling beauty of the place, surrounded by rippling crystal blue waters of Kaptai Lake, could not hide the deep-seated anger and enmity of the conflicting ... Read more
Fund crunch holds back 8-lane project
Upgrading Jatrabari-Kanchpur Road Fund crunch holds back 8-lane project Fund crisis has made uncertain the government project to upgrade the busy Jatrabari-Kanchpur stretch of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway to eight lanes. Aimed at easing traffic congestion on the eight-kilometre stretch, the project is estimated to cost Tk 120 crore and scheduled for completion in June next ... Read more
Monsoon brings life to Buriganga
Fishermen reappear as river swells with rainwater It is monsoon and the fishermen of Basila are all smiles. After nine months, they are back in business, fishing in the rain-fed Buriganga. But the joy of fishing will soon be gone for Ratan Rajbangshi, who was born and raised in a fisherman’s family. And that will ... Read more
Rajuk to raze forests for housing
Trees, farmland in 1,600 acres area to vanish for Purbachal project Around 1,300 acres of forest will be wiped out to make way for the Rajuk’s Purbachal housing project in Gazipur. The district administration has already acquired around 1,600 acres of land in five villages under Kaliganj upazila for the scheme that has no environment ... Read more