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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Indiscriminate use of pesticides responsible: Manik Lal
Indiscriminate use of pesticides on croplands and harmful fishing nets are responsible for extinction of many species of fresh water fishes to a great extent, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Manik Lal Samaddar said yesterday. He also urged all stakeholders to work together to protect the remaining species of fresh water fishes and underscored the need for creating mass awareness to this end. Manik was addressing a press conference at Matsya Bhaban in the city ahead of the Fish Resource Development Movement 2008 that begins tomorrow.
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Roundtable on "Drainage: A Menace for Chittagong'
In an effort to bring the drainage and consequent waterlogging issues into media focus, The Daily Star Chittagong bureau organised a roundtable titled "Drainage: A Menace for Chittagong' at its conference room on August 14. Abul Momen, adviser to the editor of The Daily Star in Chittagong, briefed about objectives of the series roundtable on Development of Chittagong. He said The Daily Star Chittagong Office will seek views on different problems and make endeavour to highlight development issues and prospect of Chittagong. Abul Momen
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Rajuk to develop sewerage system to curb pollution of Gulshan lake
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) has taken an initiative to develop a proper sewerage system with a view to curbing pollution of Banani-Gulshan and Gulshan-Baridhara lakes. The decision was taken yesterday at a meeting attended by LGRD Adviser Anwarul Iqbal and Public Works Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Ghulam Quader. The meeting decided to incorporate the Gulshan-Banani lake into the Hatirjheel project. The proposed system will carry wastes from Gulshan and Banani lakes to the sewerage system of Hatirjheel project, reducing pollution of the water bodies.
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Move to withdraw old buses from Dhaka city
Dhaka Metropolitan Transport Committee has stopped renewing route permits of buses and minibuses over 15 years old, as the communications ministry has decided to impose restrictions on such vehicles in the city. According to the decision, the bus owners should withdraw such buses from Dhaka and can replace their old buses with CNG-run 52-seater buses, an official handout said yesterday. The bus and minibus owners can also operate their old vehicles outside Dhaka and Chittagong cities, it added.
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Form haor board to save water bodies
A three-day national haor festival organised by Paribesh Bachao Andolon (Save the Environment Movement) will begin at Mohanganj in Netrokona tomorrow to protect the water body. Noted writer Muhammed Zafar Iqbal will inaugurate the festival, first of its kind in the country. The programmes of the festival include traditional songs, sports, exhibition and boat race. Mass Education and Cultural Affairs Adviser Rasheda K Chowdhury and Special Assistant to Chief Adviser Manik Lal Samaddar will be present at the inaugural ceremony of the festival.
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Make effective plan, take steps to solve waterlogging: CA
The caretaker government yesterday asked for urgently undertaking the long-neglected Eastern Bypass-cum-Flood Control Embankment construction project to protect the eastern part of the city from floods. A high-level inter-ministerial meeting, presided over by Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, gave the directive as the government considered a package programme for solving waterlogging problem and ensuring civic amenities.
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Landslide zones in Ctg to be marked
The government initiated the process to mark hillsides and valleys, where landslides are possible, as "Red Zones", evacuate people living in those areas and bring those areas under afforestation. The move comes a day after 11 people died in a mudslide at Matirjharna in Chittagong city. Commerce and Education Adviser Zillur Rahman gave the necessary directives to authorities concerned in this regard during a meeting in Chittagong yesterday. The meeting was held at the local circuit house following Monday's rain-induced mudslide that killed 11 people.
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50,000 marooned in Netrakona
Heavy rain and onrush of hill waters from across the border have triggered flash flood in the district. About 50,000 people were marooned in Kalmakanda, Mohonganj and Khaliajuri upazilas in last three days. A major part of Netrakona Sadar upazila may go under water if rain continues for another day, said sources in Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB).
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Mudslide deaths (Editorial)
THE death of eleven people in a landslide in Chittagong raises all our old concerns about the precarious way lives are lived in this country. The fact that huge chunks of mud from a hill descended on fourteen homes, part of a slum, and took the lives of two families would be called by fatalists as an act of nature against which people have hardly any defence. But in reality this was courted, thanks to fiddling with nature and imprudent choice of site for habitation with commercial interests thrown in.
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Formulate national agri policy to ensure food security
A comprehensive national agriculture policy shall have to be formulated for increasing crops production and ensuring food security, experts at a view exchange meeting said yesterday. They also said that all political parties should reach a consensus for the implementation of the agriculture policy.