Pinaki Roy

Only a few people have both knowledge of and love for the Sundarbans.

A Chinese company has proposed building a metro rail line in Chattogram and reclaiming land from the sea to build a 60-square km “smart city” in exchange for a share of the latter.

Eminent wildlife conservationist Dr Reza Khan said Bangladesh needs to open an independent department with a mandate to manage all the wildlife of the country, including those in safari parks and zoos.

Despite the forest department lacking the skilled manpower needed to run two existing safari parks, plans are underway for yet another safari park project in Lathitila forest in Moulvibazar’s Juri upazila, at the cost of destroying natural forests.

The High Court had directed the government 12 years ago to restore the areas of the Turag and three other rivers around the capital to their original state, but the government still lags far behind in the implementation of the directive.

“Many are leaving this area and going someplace else to live. Their homes are submerged and they have no means of livelihood here. It is hard even to get drinking water sometimes.”

After around two decades and countless deadlines, a tannery estate with a fully functioning CETP that would ensure the environment is not ravaged by toxic waste is still a far cry from what was planned.

She wanted to be a teacher one day and was studying hard to reach that goal. But that dream, she feels, has just slipped away.

Though the district administration and National River Conservation Commission have identified the company as the top river grabber in Munshiganj, the shipping ministry has been helping boost its business by awarding it shipbuilding contracts.

Rice prices have started to drop after the government allowed private importers to bring in the staple from other countries.

The air was heavy with the stench of death. The smell of burnt plastic, packaging papers, and other factory materials was still lingering.

The prime minister has approved a proposal to scrap 10 coal-fired power plants that were okayed earlier.

In a surprising move, the government has reduced the internal procurement target of food grains for the coming year, even though it had reached its lowest just two months ago in the current year.

It was obvious that the price of rice would increase amid the pandemic. No special expertise was required to see it coming.

With only around 4.62 lakh tonnes of grains in the public food stocks, one of the lowest in years, the government has moved to procure paddy, rice and wheat from local farmers and millers at prices higher than last year’s.

People living by the Kirtonkhola river in Barishal noticed in March this year that the river’s water had become unusually salty.

Roksana Khatun moves aside dirt and floating leaves from a pond, slowly lowers her earthen pitcher into it and fills it with around 20 litres of water.

The 14 languages declared endangered over two years ago remain in various stages of decline as the number of users diminish, with experts calling for extensive measures from the government to preserve these.

Since her husband Abrahm Soreng died two years ago, 70-year-old Veronica Kerketa doesn’t get the chance to talk in her mother tongue at home. None of her children or grandchildren speak the Kharia language.

The Bhadra, once a free-flowing river in Khulna’s Dumuria upazila, has been turned into a narrow canal over the years, thanks to encroachment by brick kilns run by local influential people, including elected representatives.