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]]>Harilal Das, a fisherman of the coastal area of Bhatiary union in Sitakunda upazila, said he had not been cautioned in time for the 1991 cyclone. “My house, along with all valuables, was washed away by a tidal surge. We saved our lives by taking shelter in a building. But we’ve become more aware and have taken all precaution to face the disaster this time. We’ve already shifted our valuables to safer places and sent women, children and older people to cyclone shelters”, he added.
Mohammad Shahin Imran, upazila nirbahi officer of Sitakunda, said the authorities started making emergency announcements to prepare people for the cyclone from Wednesday afternoon. “A good number of people have already gathered at the cyclone shelters. We’ll able to evacuate the area by the evening,” he added.
He, however, said that those not willing to move to the cyclone shelters would be forced to do so by the authorities to avoid casualties.
Abdul Mannan, a resident of the Anandabazar area in the city’s Munirnagar ward, said they have made early preparations for the cyclone. “We’ve shifted all women and children to the cyclone shelter. We’re shifting our valuables to safe places in the city,” he added.
The secretary of the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) said all arrangements have been made to face the cyclone and people have already started gathering at the cyclone shelters. “We’ve arranged transport to bring the people to cyclone shelters and appointed 150 trained workers to provide services at the cyclone shelters,” he added.
Mohammad Reyad, a resident of Banshkhali upazila in Chittagong, said the number of cyclone shelters is not enough, compared to the number of people living in the upazila.
Shabbir Ikbal, upazila nirbahi officer of Banshkhali, said there are 94 cyclone shelters in the upazila and that people of the area have already started gathering there. “If the cyclone shelters get filled up by the evening, we’ll use schools and colleges as safe shelters”, he added.
Our Cox’s Bazar Correspondent added that after the hoisting of danger signal No.7, the people of the district started rushing towards the cyclone shelters with their belongings.
The district administration has taken steps to shift people of low-lying and risky areas of Pekua, Kutubdia, Ukhia, Teknaf and Sadar Upazila to the cyclone shelters.
The industrial belt of Chittagong, particularly heavy industries in the Sitakunda area and the Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ), Eastern Refinery Limited, General Electric Manufacturing Company Limited (GEMCO), Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport, many oil industries in the Gupta Khal area of South Patenga are exposed to Cyclone Mahasen.
If the first tropical cyclone in the northern India Ocean, which has been gathering strength as seen in the NASA satellite imagery, hits Chittagong, the industrial belt may be severely affected. A large number of factories from Patenga to Sitakunda will be badly affected too.
Work at the CEPZ, Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport, Karnaphuli EPZ, GEM Co and Chittagong Port has been suspended since Wednesday afternoon. The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has declared red alert (alert No. 3) after hoisting signal No. 7 on Wednesday noon.
Sayed Forhad Uddin, secretary of the CPA, said: “We’ve directed that all ships be moved to the outer anchorage from the port channel. Besides, trawlers, lighterage and engine boats have been told not to venture into the sea after the hoisting of signal No. 7. We’ve taken measures to ensure safety of the Chittagong port area. We’ve already shifted all ships from our jetties.”
The Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport authorities have suspended all operations from 4 pm on Wednesday. As a result, all flights that were scheduled to land at the airport have been cancelled.
The Bangladesh Air Force’s Jaharul Haque Base has also taken measures, including shifting of aircraft from the risky coastal areas.
There area more than 400 factories in the Sitakunda industrial belt in Chittagong. They have stopped production from Wednesday afternoon.
Mahabubul Alam, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), said: “The city protection embankment is in a bad shape. The long embankment from Patenga to Sitakunda is damaged at many places. The government should take steps to construct the coastal embankment. Tidal surges can severely affect all factories located in the area from Patenga to Sitakunda. Machineries of more than 1,000 big and small industries will be damaged and crores of taka will be lost. So, pray to Allah that we’re saved.”
AFP adds: Hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh and Myanmar were ordered to evacuate Wednesday as a cyclone bore down on coastal areas home to flood-prone refugee camps for victims of sectarian unrest. The United Nations has warned that more than eight million people could be at risk from Cyclone Mahasen, which is expected to make landfall on Thursday or Friday somewhere near the border between the two countries.
Bangladesh told hundreds of thousands of people living in low-lying areas to move to cyclone shelters, while Myanmar announced plans to relocate roughly 166,000 people on its northwest coast to safety.
But in Myanmar’s state of Rakhine, many Muslim Rohingya made homeless by communal bloodshed last year said they were too scared to move, reflecting their deep mistrust of the authorities and of local Buddhists.
“We could die here. We have no place to go,” said Yu Sut Taw, a Muslim man living in a camp on the outskirts of the state capital Sittwe, one of several in Rakhine which are home to a total of about 140,000 displaced persons.
AFP reporters who visited two camps on Wednesday saw few signs of a mass evacuation under way.
Buddhist-Muslim clashes in the region last year left about 200 people dead and whole neighbourhoods burned to the ground.
Illustrating the dangers facing some of those who have tried to flee, 58 Rohingya were missing after their boat capsized on Monday as they tried to escape by sea to higher ground along the coast.
The cyclone appeared to have lost some of its strength as it churned northwards through the Bay of Bengal, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement late Tuesday.
But it may still bring “life-threatening conditions” for 8.2 million people in northeast India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, it warned.
Around 30 million of Bangladesh’s 153 million people live along the coast, which is also home to ramshackle camps housing Rohingya refugees.
Mohammed Kamruzzaman, a government magistrate in charge of a Rohingya camp in the Bangladeshi town of Cox’s Bazaar, said they used loudspeakers to warn people of the impending danger.
“We’ve also stockpiled dry food, kept medical teams and ambulances on standby and shifted the sick and pregnant women from the camps to hospitals,” he said.
Authorities in the southeastern city of Chittagong shut all garment factories ahead of the storm. “I have not seen a cyclone before. I am afraid,” said Manik Mia, one of a group of 25 construction workers who took shelter at the Daksin Patenga School just metres from the
Bay of Bengal. “I hope Allah will save us.”
Cyclone Mahasen was packing winds of up to 88 kilometres (55 miles) per hour at its centre and could unleash a storm surge of up to seven feet (two metres), said Shamsuddin Ahmed, deputy chief of Bangladesh Meteorological Department.
Bangladesh and Myanmar have both been frequent victims of cyclones which have left hundreds of thousands of people dead in recent decades.
Cyclone Nargis, which devastated Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta in May 2008, killed about 140,000 people.
Experts say Bangladesh is better prepared to handle cyclones than authorities across the border in Rakhine, where the military was deployed to oversee the evacuation.
“Some people don’t want to leave. We don’t want to see them die so we will move them under the law of protection from natural disasters,” said Aung Min, minister of the Myanmar president’s office. “We will continue to evacuate as many as possible until the last minute when the cyclone hits.”
He said about 27,000 Rohingya had already been moved but there was a lack of proper cyclone shelters.
“We don’t have any cyclone shelter in Rakhine state. We see that we should have constructed cyclone shelters there.”
Myanmar said the cyclone could delay President Thein Sein’s planned state visit to Washington — the first in almost half a century by a leader of the country formerly known as Burma, which is emerging from decades of military rule.
Rights groups have criticised Myanmar for failing to provide permanent housing sooner for displaced Rohingya, after months of warnings of the danger posed to the camps by this year’s monsoon.
-with The Independent input
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]]>All fishing boats, trawlers and marine vessels over the North Bay and the deep sea have been advised to come close to the coast and stay there, hugging the coast, so that they can take shelter at short notice.
According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), the cyclonic storm ‘Mahasen’, with an estimated central pressure (ECP) of 998 HPA barometric pressure over Southeast Bay and adjoining Southwest Bay, moved slightly northwards over the same area.
The cyclone was centred at 12 noon on Monday about 1,300 kilometres south-southwest of Chittagong port, 1,230 kilometres south-southwest of Cox’s Bazar port and 1,220 kilometres south-southwest of Mongla port. It is likely to intensify further and move in a northerly direction, the BMD warned.
The maximum sustained wind speed within 54 kilometres of the storm centre is about 62 km per hour, rising to 88 km per hour in gusts and/or squalls. The sea remains very rough near the storm centre.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre of the US Navy saw ‘Mahasen’ gaining wind speeds to 157 km per hour, gusting to 185 km per hour, prior to landfall. The US agency estimated that Chittagong would be the likely landfall area.
Meanwhile, the port city of Chittagong and the sea city of Cox’s Bazar have taken extensive measures to deal with the cyclone. In the port city, the Chittagong district administration and Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) have made all-out preparations to avert human casualties and loss of properties if Cyclone ‘Mahasen’ does hit Chittagong.
CCC mayor M Manjur Alam held an emergency meeting with the ward councillors and high-ranking officials on Monday morning to make necessary preparations for the cyclone. It has formed a disaster management cell headed by Mohammad Hossain.
The CCC has opened a control room at the city’s Dampara. The phone numbers of the control room are: 031-630739, 031-633649. The CCC has also kept ready 50 different modes of transport for speedy evacuation of the coastal people just after the danger signal is hoisted.
Besides, the CCC has kept 15 educational institutions ready for preparing safe shelters. It has also kept other equipment as well as ambulances, medicines and food ready. Three medical teams have been formed to provide medication to the injured persons.
Ward councillors of each of the CCC’s wards have been asked to monitor the situation round the clock.
Meanwhile, the CCC mayor has visited the coastal areas of the port city, including Patenga, Halishahor and South and North Kattali this morning and requested the people to remain alert and be prepared to go to safe shelters if the cyclone hits Chittagong.
The Chittagong district administration has also made all-out preparations, including opening a control room at the district administration office and keeping cyclone shelters ready. The control room’s phone number is: 031-611545.
Chittagong district relief and rehabilitation officer (DRRO) Abdul Malek said the administration is ready to face the cyclone and tackle its aftermath.
-With The Independent input
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]]>The post 18 killed in Cox’s Bazar road mishap appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.
]]>Police and witnesses said the accident took place as a Cox’s Bazar-bound bus coming from Fatikchari Nanopour Maizbhandar Shrine in Chittagong hit a railing of the Chiringha Bridge over the Matamuhuri in Chakoria at 5:30am and nosedived into the river, leaving 16 people dead on the spot and 25 others injured.
Locals hearing the crash rushed to the spot and rescued the injured and retrieved the bodies.
The wounded were first admitted to Chakoria upazila health complex, where one of them succumbed to his injuries.
Later, 11 critical injured were transferred to Chitagong Medical College Hospital, with one of them dying on the way.
Identities of only two of the deceased could be confirmed. They are Absar Uddin, 50, and Abdur Rashid, 45, of Ward 5 of Gazipur City Corporation.
Police said all the victims were residents of the same ward of the city corporation.
Cox’s Bazar police super M Azad Mia said the driver of the bus had probably fallen asleep while crossing the bridge and, so, lost control, hit the railing, and fell 30 feet down to the river.
Chakoria municipality and Chakoria Upazila Parishad have taken the necessary steps for sending the bodies to Gazipur, said Chakoria Upazila Parishad chairman Rezaul Karim.
Courtesy of New Age
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]]>“Even in 1971, I did not see this grotesque brutality on us,” Mohathero says. Mohathero is the second highest priest of the Buddhist community in Bangladesh.
“Muslim men and women had taken refuge in my monastery in 1971 to escape the wrath of the Pakistani army,” the feeble man says. “I have saved so many Muslim souls from the brutal persecution of the Pakistanis. Today I feel defeated.”
The Mohathero slowly walked into the Sima monastery yesterday afternoon, supported by his disciples. He went from one pagoda to another, and looked at the defaced, damaged statues of Lord Buddha and the nobles in a state of stupor.
He was sweating. He was shaking in pain and exasperation. And he spoke in his gentle, quaint voice.
The Bangalees who had taken refuge in his monastery invented a trick to evade the Pakistan army.
“I am a China Buddhist,” they would tell the Pakistan army when intercepted. When Bangladesh was at war, China sided with Pakistan. This is why the Pakistan army had great respect for anyone affiliated with China. A China Buddhist was a respectable person and so was to be spared persecution.
“The Pakistanis did not torch our village. This attack is totally out of the blue,” Mohathero says. “This is an attack on my religion. I have no foes.”
And yet he had to run for his life. When the mob attacked his monastery, his disciples held him on both sides, lifted him off the ground and carried him into the paddy field. That is where he hid the night and survived.
“My civilisation is lost. My lifetime of worshipping has gone in vain. I am a lost man and lost I will be,” he says.
“Please save my future generation! Please!”
Courtesy of The Daily Star
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]]>clamped a ban on gatherings for an indefinite period to restore order.
The police had to open fire on a mob at Hwaikong of Teknaf on Sunday evening as the unruly people were advancing towards Buddhist temples after hearing of a reported
Facebook post desecrating the Qur’an.
Twelve persons including two policemen were injured in the violence in Ukhiya and five persons were shot.
The authorities struggled to contain the violence that continued overnight and clamped Section 144 in Ramu since Sunday morning.
People in Ramu alleged that the law enforcers failed to contain the attackers and the fire service too did not respond immediately.
The deputy commissioner of Cox’s Bazar, Jainul Bari, told New Age in the evening, ‘We’ve called in army who have joined the paramilitary troopers of Border Guard
Bangladesh and police to intensify patrol in the troubled areas’.
Earlier, at least 14 Buddhist monasteries and one Hindu temple were burnt to ashes in Ramu, Patiya and Ukhiya. At least 10 Buddhist villages including Srikool,
Merongloua, Cerenghata,
Ukhiyear Ghona, North Fatekharkhool, Jadipara and Askarkata under Johariana union were attacked and Purbo Merongloa, that had around 30 houses, was burned, and more
than a hundred structures were damaged, reports the correspondent in Cox’s Bazar.
The additional deputy commissioner, Jashim Uddin, said, ‘The administration restricts gatherings of more than four persons for an indefinite period till normalcy
returns. Cox’s Bazar’s superintendent of police, Selim Mohammed Jahangir, said the situation was brought under control by 3:00am though tension was mounting.
Onlookers and police said that mobs were mobilised near Ramu Chowmuhuni at around 10:00pm and a procession was brought out, chanting slogans against defamation of the
Qur’an. They claimed that a photograph portraying a white lady stamping on the Qur’an was tagged on the profile of a youth, Uttam Kumar Barua of Cheranghata of Ramu,
on the Facebook and they demanded his arrest
At around 11:30pm, the mob was strengthened and it marched towards Barua Para at around 11:30pm and began attacking the houses of Baruas and set fire to the temples.
At around 12:30am, a mob torched a 250-year-old Buddhist temple on Cheranghata road and then set ablaze the Borokang Bouddha Bihar and Kendriya Shima Bihar.
Buddhists started to flee their homes as the fire services failed to reach the spot amidst increasing violence.
Seven temples, including Saada Ching, Laal Ching, Sima Bihar, Maitree Bihar, Meronglowa Sima Bihar and Cherenghata Buddhist Temple were burnt to ashes as the attacks
continued till around 4:00am.
Another mob also attacked Buddhist temple Maricha in Ukhiya thana in the morning but police and members of the BGB thwarted them. In the afternoon, another Buddhist
temple was also attacked at Rajapalang in Ukhia.
Ramu is a Buddhist heritage town with more than 50 Buddhist temples including a century-old one featuring valuable statues of Siddharta Gautama, the Buddha.
A local journalist, who was hiding with his family in the neighbourhood that came under attack, told New Age that the attackers damaged and looted valuables from the
temples.
Babita Barua, lecturer of Ramu College, Samata Barua, teacher of Kawarkhoop Hakim-Rakima High School, footballers Nikas Barua and Fakir Barua said the attackers had
torched their houses and they could not save anything.
A number of Facebook users in Ramu told New Age that Uttam Barua did not post the photo deemed to be offensive to Islam. Rather he was tagged with the photo posted by
a hate-campaign group called ‘Insult Allah’.
Uttam has been absconding since the violence spread and the local administration took his mother and sister into safe custody.
Local lawmaker Lutfor Rahman Kajal, Ramu’s upazila chairman Sohel Sarwar Kajal and other local bigwigs were seen attempting to control the rioters, said our
correspondent in Cox’s Bazar.
The Minister for Home Affairs, Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, visited the riot-ravaged Buddhist neighbourhoods in Ramu on Sunday noon and was of the opinion that the
‘heinous’ attack on minorities was ‘premeditated and deliberate’.
The minister said that traces of gunpowder and petrol were found in the burnt down monasteries, temples and houses. He assured the people that the thugs who incited
the violence at instigation
of a fundamentalist axis would be traced and brought to book within 15 days, and the monasteries and temples would be rebuilt and the victims paid compensation.
Minister for Industries Dilip Barua, lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi, Border Guard Bangladesh’s director general Major General Anwar Hussain, police inspector general
Hassan Mahmood Khandkar and Rapid Action Battalion’s director general Mukhlesur Rahman accompanied the home minister.
A five-member probe body, headed by additional commissioner of Chittagong division Nurul Islam, has been formed and been asked to submit its report in 10 working days.
Other members of the committee are Chittagong’s police superintendent, Cox’s Bazar’s additional district magistrate and additional police superintendent.
Our correspondent in Chittagong reported that mobs in Patiya upazila set on fire two Buddhist temples and a Hindu temple in Kolagaon after hearing rumours of the
desecration of the Qur’an.
The police and local sources said that more than 500 workers of ship-building company Western Marine launched the attack on the Kolagaon Ratnankur Bouddha Bihar,
Lakhera Abhoy Bouddha Bihar and Kolagaon Nabarun Sangha Durgabari at about 12:15pm.
Aminur Rashid, Patiya’s police chief, said the workers of Western Marine
came out from the
factory after breaking open the collapsible gate and started vandalising the nearby temples. He said they damaged 16 idols in the Ratnankur Bihar, from where they also
took away a small golden idol and donation box.
Courtesy of New Age
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]]>The post Down with the hills! appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.
]]>
Though Bangladesh is prominently a plain land, its Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari, Bandarban and Sylhet have hilly areas with forests and rich biodiversity. These areas are full of natural resources fulfilling needs of the people and other living species.But at present, the destruction of hills in every area has become so alarming that many concerned people have been upbeat against the greedy grabbers who are out to convert these hilly areas into plain lands to set up industries and houses or just to steal soil.
Besides the individuals and private firms, government agencies are also involved in such suicidal activities. It is alarming because of the after effects, which the hill cutters do not take in consideration when they move ahead with their unconscionable acts.
Concerns are raised by the High Court, environmentalists and locals as the rate of razing hills has been increasing unabated. Lack of commitment of government high ups to address the issue sincerely and loopholes in law and its poor execution by law enforcers are the causes behind such poor state of the hills.
In a poor country like ours, natural resources like hills and woods are perhaps the most valuable raw materials as they are easily available, and in many cases free! But, why should we deliberately do such harm to our own resources to save or earn money, illegally?
Razing hills doesn’t only mean levelling the area and taking away the soil for other purpose, but the whole biodiversity is destroyed. Let’s leave aside the loss of natural beauty, hill cutting also accounts for soil pollution adding to the adverse impact on the environment.
And in more economic perspective, cutting down of hills minimises the tourism prospects we currently have in Sylhet, Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong and the three districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
The present grave scenario is witnessed more in Chittagong and Sylhet where industrialisation is growing rapidly, while in Cox’s Bazar the magnificent spot of tourist attraction hills are being levelled for construction of hotels-motels and other industrial and commercial establishments.
Because of comparatively stricter measures in place, hill cutting is seen less in the CHT. But still, because of massive arrival of Bengali settlers in the indigenous area, the region in near future may see similar detrimental impact. Presently, tree felling in the hills are taking place indiscriminately. The indigenous people, however, know how to use the hills for making huts and growing crops.
In Chittagong and CHT, where people live on the hill slopes, hill cutting increases chances of mudslides and threatens lives of dwellers. We’ve been experiencing numerous losses of lives for the past few years during monsoon triggered by rain.
How do these incidents happen when we have strict laws to protect the hills? It must be carelessness of the environment regulator officials, law enforcing agencies and the public representatives as well as the muscle and money power of the individuals and businessmen, for which the destruction of the environment continues.
The number of penalized people is so small that the violators are not afraid of anyone, and the group of dishonest people is ever expanding. The frustration mounts when we see the businesses linked to different government agencies cut the hills illegally and enjoy impunity, or face token fines, especially after their destructive activities are published in media.
According to a public statement, the Department of Environment (DoE) between January 2009 and June 2012 fined 20 institutions Tk 3.88 crore while filed 119 cases against people for cutting down hills illegally. But the number of incidents taking place was much higher as reported in media. Moreover, following negotiations with the regulator, the guilty can manage to pay less than what they were fined, and because of prolonged legal procedure and having scope for acquiring stay orders on the restrictions from the courts, many of them engage in the same crime again.
It is annoying as the government fails now and then to protect the hills when the High Court has repeatedly been ordering the government to ensure that no hills are razed without prior permission of the environment regulator.
While the government was supposed to raise its voice against illegal hill cutting and create awareness among the people to stand against this, we can see only the green groups and local people have so far spoken up.
Moreover, the court responded several times following the public interest litigations by environmental rights groups. But, execution of the orders by the government is not seen to be occurred.
It means the people linked with the government don’t want to go against the businessmen as they, allegedly, get benefits out of such ‘projects’.
But how long this can be allowed at the cost of environment? Very recently, a Bangla daily in an investigative report showed how the authorities of a proposed fertiliser factory were cutting down hills for their mega structure in Sylhet, without acquiring any environmental clearance from the regulator.
Locals and journalists came to know about the move and helped the countrymen know about the disaster through the newspaper. No government agency agreed to shoulder the responsibility even though it’s their duty to protect the natural topography.
The project is underway with finance from the governments of Bangladesh and China while a local contractor is conducting and supervising the land development. We’ve also come to know about the government’s constructing of roads and highways by razing hills.
So, how can we be in complacence following the court orders? How can we believe those sky-high claims by the government stalwarts that they are sincere in protecting the environment?
Yet we want to believe, that the government itself will fix the problems within it and then go for a massive plan to seal this trend of unplanned, unauthorised, and suicidal hill cutting forever. If measures are not taken up immediately, the concerns and frustrations will remain, and the nature will be losing its resources and balance, unfortunately, only to the detriment of most of our interest and benefit of a number of reckless profit mongers.
The writer is a journalist. He can be contacted through probirbidhan@gmail.com
Article originally published on The Daily Star
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]]>The post A friend of nature appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.
]]>She started her natural resource conservation activities in 2006, during the inception of Nishorgo Network, through forming a female Community Patrol Group (CPG) with 28 women at Kerontali, said a press release.
Along with the forest guards, she took upon the challenges of sharing the responsibilities of conserving the sanctuary against poaching and illegal logging. She made the local people aware about biodiversity conservation for future generation.
Apart from carrying out her duties as a Union Parishad member, Khurshida also deals with health and hygiene of the community, school maintenance, upkeep of roads and various development issues.
The award has been named after Wangari Muta Maathai, a Kenyan environmental and political activist, who in 2004 became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace”.
The award will be handed over to Khurshida on September 27 in Rome, Italy, on the occasion of the first anniversary of Maathai’s death, during the meeting of FAO’s 3rd World Forestry Week (WFW), the statement added.
The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), an informal and voluntary arrangement among 14 international organisations and secretariats working for forest, has launched the first ever award to honour and commemorate the impact of this extraordinary woman who championed forest issues around the world.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
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]]>The post Wild elephants kill two in Cox’s Bazar appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.
]]>The deceased were identified as Amena Begum, 22, wife of Abdul Hadi and Ali Ahmed, 55, of the village.
Locals sources said the two wild elephants entered the village from nearby Garjonia hill at about 4:30am and vandalised about 12 houses.
At one stage, one of the animals attacked Amena’s house and trampled her, leaving her dead on the spot. However, her six-month-old baby, who was on her lap, escaped unhurt miraculously.
Another elephant picked Ali Ahmed with its trunk when he came out of his house and dashed him to the ground violently, leaving him dead on the spot.
Three other local people were also injured in the attack.
On information, a team of foresters of Bagkhali range, led by Abdul Wahab, rushed to the spot.
The foresters and the local people from their licensed guns fired 50 gunshots apparently to drive out the elephants.
But the animals could not be driven out from the village, a border area between Bandarban and Cox’s Bazar districts, till filing of this report at 1:30pm.
The injured were admitted to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital and Ramu Upazila Health Complex.
Nurul Amin, chairman of Kochhopia union, said the elephants entered the area from Myanmar in search of food. Uttarpara village is located only five kilometres off Myanmar.
-With UNB input
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]]>The post NGOs asked to stop aid to Rohingyas appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.
]]>The NGOs are the Musilm Aid UK and France’s ACF (Action Against Hunger) and Medecins Sans Frantieres (Doctors Without Borders) which had been providing shelters, food and medical services for the Rohingyas who fled the persecution in Myanmar and have been staying outside the officials refugee camps.
Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner Jainul Bari told New Age that the NGO Affairs Bureau had issued the order on Wednesday and he conveyed it to the NGOs concerned.
Jainul said that the order had been issued issued after an investigation that had found that the NGO charity programmes were encouraging other Rohingyas of Myanmar to sneak into Cox’s Bazar and live here on charity for over years.
The NGO Affairs Bureau in its letter to the Muslim Aid UK accused the organisation of illegally helping undocumented Rohingya refugees using its non-formal education training and livelihood support for the vulnerable families in Cox’s Bazar.
The letter said that the project was encouraging the influx of the Rohingyas from Myanmar.
An official of the Muslim Aid UK said that they had stopped the Rohingya project in Cox’s Bazar following the order.
The NGO Affairs Bureau in its letter accused the MSF of damaging Bangladesh’s image abroad by circulating negative news in the international media about the Rohingyas.
Apart from nearly 30,000 registered Rohingyas in the camps, about three lakh undocumented Rohingyas are now staying throughout Cox’s Bazar outside the camps.
-With New Age input
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]]>The post Yet another fatal crash appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.
]]>Eight people, including seven of a family, were killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a microbus at Dulahazara of Cox’s Bazar yesterday, two days after a similar accident claimed 12 lives, including nine of a family, in Keraniganj near Dhaka.
The bus heading towards Cox’s Bazar collided head on with the microbus heading for Feni on Cox’s Bazar-Chittagong highway during a downpour around 8:30am, a correspondent reports from Cox’s Bazar quoting Assistant Superintendent of Police Md Khalequzzaman.
Eight people died and three were injured.
The deceased were: Sheikh Iftiza Hossain, 60, of Tekpara in Cox’s Bazar municipality, his wife Hosne Ara, 45, their daughters Sabrina Sultan, 21, and Aabha, 8, Iftiza’s brothers Murtoza Hossain, 65, Shefayetul Alam, 50, Shahin Alam, 38, and microbus driver Md Shahjahan.
Hosne Ara and the driver died on the spot while the others succumbed to their injuries at Dulahazara Christian Memorial Hospital, Khalequzzaman said.
Iftiza’s sisters Irine Akhter, 36, Mobaroka Begum, 56, and Shahin Alam’s wife Masuma Afrin, 32, were admitted to the hospital with severe injuries and later moved to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
Locals said Iftiza with eight other family members had left for Feni on the rental microbus around 6:00am to attend a wedding.
Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Farhad of Chakaria Police Station said the curve had no signs to warn drivers.
He also said the bus was at speed and its driver and his helper fled the scene after the accident.
Injured Masuma Afrin at Dulahazara Christian Memorial Hospital told reporters that it was raining when the accident happened. She said their microbus was taking the turn when the bus hit it. She could not say what happened afterwards.
She said before they hired the vehicle she had repeatedly asked her family not to use a microbus out of fear as nine of a family died just two days ago in Keraniganj.
On Wednesday, a rashly driven bus took the lives of 12 people including nine of a family at Keraniganj, their two house helps, and their driver when they were going to their village home to spend the summer vacation.
The bus, while trying to overtake a truck, hit the microbus carrying the family head on and tossed it into a ditch on Dhaka-Mawa highway at Kadampur on the outskirts of the capital.
With The Daily Star input
The post Yet another fatal crash appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.
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