Mst Asma Mahmud

A record-breaking Tk 51,746 crore budget allocation for climate-relevant interventions, marking a 26 percent surge from the previous fiscal year, seems like an unmitigated triumph for a nation on the frontlines of environmental precarity, until one looks closely at where the money actually goes.

Two-year-old Sajid from Rajshahi was found dead on December 11, after more than 30 agonising hours trapped inside a narrow shaft, approximately 30 feet deep. Rescuers worked day and night tirelessly, while the country watched helplessly.