Unplanned embankment poses threat to river
The ongoing construction of an embankment on the Sandhya river in Barishal has sparked outrage among locals who believe the structure will damage the river crucial to their livelihoods. Locals in Banaripara
Daily Star (Bangladesh)
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Traffic jam costs Tk 15,000cr a year
Traffic congestion causes over Tk 15,000 crore loss to the economy each year while road accidents result in more than 4,000 fatalities. Maj Gen (retd) Ghulam Quader, the communications adviser, said this yesterday at an international symposium and workshop on 'Sustainable Transport for Developing Countries'. The symposium is being organised by Civil Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) in association with Loughborough University, UK and Hiroshima University, Japan. The programme is supported by WBB trust and British Council.
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Mega transport project for greater Dhaka kicks off
The government yesterday launched a long-term mega project to establish an integrated environment-friendly traffic management system in greater Dhaka to relieve people of the nagging traffic congestion. The 20-year Strategic Transport Plan (STP) includes 17,400 square km of water and surface ways in Dhaka and neighbouring Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Munshiganj, Gazipur and Manikganj districts.
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The cost of food (editorial)
THAT, according to World Bank estimates, the recent rise in food prices has pushed as many as four million people back into poverty, merely puts a number on a crisis that we have all been well aware of for quite some time now. However, diagnosing the problem is not the issue before us, the issue is what steps can be taken to address this serious and on-going crisis.
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Rail tracks go under water in city for poor drainage
The railway lines between Gandaria Railway Station and Jurain Bazar go under water at least at 10 places after a heavy shower due to lack of proper drainage system. This could cause train accidents. Locals blame filling up of water bodies, construction of illegal structures beside the lines and lack of proper drainage system for the problem. The Dhaka-Narayanganj train service is sometimes postponed when the stagnant rainwater rises above the rails, said an official of Bangladesh Railway.
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Six areas identified in facing climate change
The country is preparing to face the aftermath of climate change in around 50 different sub-sectors under six thematic areas of agriculture, health, livelihoods, disasters management, environment and development. Bangladesh will present its national action plans at a conference in London in September, according to a presentation at the international symposium on "Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia".
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Land grabbers gobbling up Rupnagar main canal
Due to a lax rescue effort by the authorities, land grabbers are filling up the Rupnagar main canal at Pallabi by constructing road and tin-shed houses across the canal. This unauthorised grabbing of the canal has worried locals as they fear the area would be waterlogged permanently if the canal is blocked in such a way. The natural canal carries sewages and stormwater of West Shewrapara, Kazipara, Monipur, Mirpur Section 2 and Rupnagar residential areas, Duaripara and Alokdi villages, and discharges them into the river Turag.
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Chandpur town protection embankment threatened
With sudden erosion by Meghna River, parts of Chandpur town protection embankment have become vulnerable. As the Meghna started devouring about 100-metre area from Jugipatti to fish market at Puran Bazar of the town at around 1:00pm yesterday, panicked people started shifting whatever they could to safer places. To stop further erosion in the area, authorities started dumping sand bags yesterday afternoon. Earlier on Monday night, over 10 metres of the town protection embankment at Molehead (extreme west of the town) near Chandpur Railway Station suddenly collapsed.
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Steps to prevent landslides soon
The government-formed Hill Management Committee has decided to immediately implement protective measures to prevent landslides and make the dwellings in foothill areas risk-free instead of going for large-scale evacuation. On the basis of suggestions from the Technical Protection Committee, it decided at a meeting on Monday evening that hill regions would be made risk-free through development of retaining walls, afforestation, bamboo plantation and setting up physical barriers like sacks of sand and walkways.
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Kidney disease claims 40,000 a yr
The number of kidney patients in the country is increasing at an alarming rate as about 2 crore people are suffering from the disease. "About two crore people are now somehow suffering from the kidney disease which was about one crore 10 years back. The rate of the chronic kidney disease has now reached at 18 percent, increasing 50 percent during the period,' Prof Dr Harun-Ur-Rashid, chairman of Department of Nephrology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), told BSS yesterday.
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Work unitedly to face climate change fallout
Reminding the aftermath of natural disasters and the role of scientists to fight that, President Iajuddin Ahmed yesterday called upon the world community to work unitedly to face the challenges of climate change and make the planet a better place to live in. He described scientists as the most important representatives of humankind and asked them to give suggestions to the world community to protect the planet. The president was addressing at the inaugural session of the six-day International symposium on "Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia" at a city hotel.