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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Build capacity to adopt climate change adaptation strategy
Speakers at a seminar yesterday underscored the need to build capacity to adopt a sustainable climate change adaptation strategy. Bangladesh is most vulnerable to climate change and an adaptation strategy must be adopted to offset the impacts of global climate change, they said. "We have succeeded in coping with two devastating floods and the cyclone Sidr last year by dint of our strong determination. Besides, the country has managed to ensure food security in the wake of global food crisis," Home Adviser Maj Gen (retd) MA Matin said as the chief guest.
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Flood situation in 5 dists may improve
The flood situation in Munshiganj, Manikganj, Faridpur, Madaripur and Shariatpur districts and Dohar and Nawabganj upazilas in Dhaka is likely to improve gradually, Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) reported yesterday. The major rivers Brahmaputra-Jamuna and the Ganges-Padma are also expected to maintain their falling trends, the FFWC added.
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Farmers eye new areas for crops
CRITICAL food shortages and growing demand for bio-fuels and hydro-electricity, due to high fossil fuel prices, rank among the greatest threats today to the preservation of precious wetlands worldwide as farmers and developers look for new areas for agriculture, energy crop plantations and hydro dams.
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Agriculture in Bangladesh world's '8th wonder'
Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Wu Dawei, who is attending the current Saarc Summit as an observer, called on Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury at his hotel suite in Sri Lankan capital on Saturday evening. The vice minister told the foreign adviser that China considered Bangladesh as a strategic friend in Saarc and sought Bangladesh's help in order to be able to play a greater role in Saarc, said a press release received here from Colombo.
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Vegetables dearer due to scant supply
Vegetable prices have increased significantly in the city kitchen markets in the last one month due to a fall in supply from the districts, wholesalers and traders said. The wholesale price of most summer vegetables has increased by Tk 8 to 10 per kg. Traders attributed the scant supply to rain and increased transport cost following the latest fuel price hike.
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Wildlife disappears with forest destruction
It came as a shocking reality to us at the end of our five-day trip to the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) that this vast area hardly supports any wildlife any more. The systematic destruction of the forests had been so severe that many of the animals that used to reside here and nowhere else have disappeared. Dr Reza Khan who led us to this awakening trip to the hills searched every nook and corner of the forests for sightings of such great animals and birds like the great hornbill, pied hornbill, dollar bird, mathura, great horned owl, fairy blue bird or holook gibbon.
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Wrecked roads, terminals in coastal Patuakhali
About 10 lakh inhabitants of six upazilas in Patuakhali district are suffering as half of the 150 km roads connecting the areas is in a deplorable condition. Large potholes on those roads cause nuisance for passengers as buses, loaded trucks and others vehicles often get stuck there while the situation worsens in the monsoon season with rainwater gathering in the holes. Patients become the worst sufferers on the dilapidated roads.
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Climate change to cause surge of 'envirogees'
ENVIRONMENTAL disasters from climate change and destruction of ecosystems will create a surge of refugees -- 'envirogees' -- across the planet . Maybe the buzzword will catch on faster and shed some much-needed light on what will become a serious problem, probably by the end of this or the next decade.
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Stuttering FP programme (Editorial)
WE are concerned at the slow progress in containing the baby boom for which the Millennium Development Goal (MDG-5) is likely to be difficult to attain by 2015. MDG was set at reducing total fertility rate (TFR) to 2.2 percent by 2010. According to Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey 2007, the TFR in the period 1993-94 was 3.4 percent, which came down to 2.7 in 2007 but did not come down any further. Poor management of the programme is widely considered the main reason for the stagnancy in achieving the target.
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Where forests are the only means of survival
It's either forests, or nothing. This is how one can define livelihoods in the hill tracts. As we travelled from one hill to another, one pourasava to the other, one territory to another in Khagrachhari and Rangamati, we found that the people are highly dependent on forest resources. They are clearing hills after hills without any regards for forestry or wildlife and engaging in Jhum cultivation. They have no other means for survival too. And when you have no options, you turn to the immediate next thing you have--the forests.