Mintu Deshwara

Saddam and Sunil, two youths, suffered critical injuries in a motorcycle accident in Rashidpur area of Habiganj’s Bahubal upazila recently.

The Juri river in Moulvibazar’s Juri upazila has transformed into a wasteland over the years due to negligence.

The vast low-lying depressions in the northeastern part of Bangladesh, called haors in Bangla, remain inundated for almost half the year centring the monsoons.

Sukon Basfor, 33, a Harijan woman, starts her day at the break of dawn. She works tirelessly for over four hours, from 5:00am to 9:30am every day, cleaning the streets from Puran Bazar to the Bus Stand area in Sreemangal.

Atop the Barlekha Upazila Agriculture Office in Moulvibazar sits a delicate rooftop garden, featuring a tapestry of flowers. A whopping 250 flower varieties are blooming on this roof.

The Baniachong Upazila Health Complex in Habiganj district serves as the lone government-run healthcare facility for around 3,50,000 residents of 15 unions under the upazila, including those from haor (wetlands) areas.

Owning to its worldwide popularity, farmers have taken up coffee cultivation in the hilly terrains of Moulvibazar Sadar’s Giasnagar union.

Years of reckless illegal encroachment and indiscriminate pollution have left Sakha Borak river in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj practically on deathbed.

To harness the untapped potential of ecotourism in the region, the Borshijora Ecopark was set up in 2006 across a vast expanse of natural reserve forest in Moulvibazar Sadar upazila.

Barlekha upazila in Moulvibazar is known for its agar and attar production, netting recognition not just in the country but also on the international stage. These two products are often referred to as the "white gold" of the upazila.

Thieves have been stealing valuable trees from Lathitila Reserve Forest in Juri upazila of Moulvibazar, right under the nose of the forest officials.

A language is quietly but surely becoming extinct in some villages at the tea estates of Moulvibazar, Habiganj, and Sylhet, along the Bangladesh-India border.

Kodalichhara Canal, which is considered as the lifeline of Moulvibazar town, usually carries the city’s drainage water into the Hail Haor (waterbody).

I first met Father Frank after he came to St Joseph's Church in Sreemangal as the new parish priest in 1994, dedicating his life and knowledge to the Punjee people for the next decade

For eight years, an eight-metre-long bridge over the Dhulia canal remains inaccessible due to the absence of approach roads.

A total of 108 trees of a diverse range of species, including akashmani, shilkoroi, mahogany, and olive, are to be felled on the premises of Shah AMS Kibria Municipal Auditorium in Habiganj town in the name of a beautification project.

Rivers don’t live anymore, they merely exist. They exist as relics of their halcyon days when rivers were truly wild, mysterious, free -- or as a character in their own story, as told through poetry and music.

It all started when she discovered discoloured skin on different parts of her body. But for Rupom Bhumij, a 53-year-old tea worker, seeking a doctor’s advice for what she thought then as a “minor issue” was a luxury she couldn’t afford.

The Habiganj municipality in 2021 constructed concrete bins as secondary transfer stations (STS) at 14 major locations within the municipal area, aiming to facilitate garbage disposal and enhance cleanliness.

Once upon a time, the Manu river, flowing beside Moulvibazar town, had a picturesque landscape with clear waters.