Hilsa catch falls, debts mount
9 HOUR(s)
For Aker Ali Khan, 55, the peak hilsa season in the Tentulia river was supposed to be a time to earn enough to repay his debts and support his family for the rest of the year.
9 HOUR(s)
The bridge that never came to be
17 August 2026
Khaleque Bhuiyan still remembers the day the piling equipment arrived at Payrakunj, seven kilometres from Patuakhali town, a spot where a bridge over the Payra river was finally meant to rise.
17 August 2026
Patuakhali pins hopes on EPZ for jobs, industrialisation
16 August 2026
A total of 306 plots will be created in the EPZ and divided into three categories
16 August 2026
200 trawlers stranded over ice shortage
13 August 2026
At the height of the hilsa season, when fishing trawlers should be crowding the Bay of Bengal, around 200 remain stranded at the Mahipur and Alipur fish landing centres in Patuakhali due to an acute shortage of ice caused by frequent load-shedding.
13 August 2026
Power cuts leave 200 hilsa trawlers stranded in Patuakhali for lack of ice
12 August 2026
Twenty ice factories struggle to meet demand as fishermen face soaring prices and prolonged delays at fishing ports
12 August 2026
Missing for 32 yrs, Achia finally calls home
9 August 2026
A Facebook post reunites a daughter with her long-lost family, but borders keep them apart
9 August 2026
15 doctors against 81 posts at Barguna hospital
9 August 2026
Barguna General Hospital, the district’s main government-run healthcare facility serving nearly 12 lakh people, has long been grappling with an acute shortage of doctors.
9 August 2026
Family card: A cushion for those struggling to get by
9 August 2026
On a low-lying island in Patuakhali, 32-year-old Tanjila Begum’s husband works irregularly as a day labourer in nearby watermelon fields, where seasonal tidal surges often destroy crops and wipe out daily earnings.
9 August 2026
Crumbling buildings put lives at risk
Patuakhali’s Baufal Upazila Health Complex is in a terrible shape due to the dilapidated four two-storey buildings of the complex, along with a lack of specialised physicians.
6 August 2023
147 Barguna bridges lie unrepaired
As many as 147 iron bridges out of 200 have been unusable in Barguna for a long time due to a lack of maintenance and repair, causing immense suffering to thousands of locals.
28 July 2023
Illegal dams disrupt farming
Eight illegal dams, built for fish cultivation, have caused waterlogging in 500 acres of agricultural land in the Patuakhali Sadar upazila. As a result, Aman cultivation in the area has been disrupted.
28 July 2023
Kalapara of Patuakhali: 1,320MW power plant to come on stream next June
Another 1,320MW coal-based thermal power plant is in progress in Patuakhali’s Kalapara area. The first of its two units (660MW each) will come on stream in June 2024 and the second unit in October.
27 July 2023
Trees on 50 acres lost in 5yrs
The Shuvo Sandhya Beach in Barguna’s Taltali upazila has been facing serious erosion by the Bay for the last couple of years.
26 July 2023
Studying under open sky as school bldg risky
A bunch of students in uniforms attending lectures under a tree -- this is what this correspondent saw when he first stepped inside Uttar Tiakhali Government Primary School in Barguna’s Amtali upazila.
22 July 2023
A terminal in ruins
“The terminal is full of potholes, all of which transform into ditches following drizzles. Speeding vehicles often spill that water on our clothes,” shared Abdul Halim, a local who frequently commutes through the Patuakhali central bus terminal.
16 July 2023
Milling machine leveraging mung dal farmers
The availability of a simple electricity-run milling machine is helping farmers in Patuakhali double their earnings from a legume crop.
10 July 2023
Sonakata Tengragiri Ecopark: Bridge works remain halted for over a year
The Sonakata Tengragiri Ecopark has seen a decline in number of tourists due to the suspension of construction works on the bridge linking the area to Barguna’s Taltali upazila’s FakirHat Canal for one and a half year.
6 July 2023
Rakhines continue fight to save their land
Crafted by a group of Rakhines, expelled from the Arakan around 1783, the 240-year-old Srimangal Buddha Bihar (Buddhist temple) in Patuakhali still stands tall today amid chaos as the indigenous community keeps fighting for the full possession of its land.
26 June 2023
Mung bean exports take a hit
Mung bean exports from Bangladesh have decreased as foreign buyers are less interested in purchasing the legume this year given their reduced quality and size resulting from severe droughts during the growing period.
23 June 2023
Payra port operations slow down for halt in coal imports
Operations at Payra port have slowed down significantly following the temporary stoppage of coal imports for the Payra Thermal Power Plant in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali.
19 June 2023
Plastic waste plagues Kuakata
Patuakhali’s scenic coastal town of Kuakata is grappling with the persistent issue of non-biodegradable plastic waste, including one-time use plastic products and polythene, which are causing significant damage to the environment and neighbouring rivers.
4 June 2023
93 teacher posts vacant out of 125
Polytechnic Institute in Patuakhali is facing serious problems due to its shortage of teachers. While 93 of its 125 teacher posts have remained vacant for the last five years, 11 additional teachers have not been paid their salaries for the last three years.
19 May 2023
Patuakhali coasts exposed to cyclone
In recent times, numerous houses, educational institutions, markets, cemeteries, and places of worship in Patuakhali’s Piprakhali have been displaced; and acres of land and embankments have been eroded by the mighty Payra river.
12 May 2023
Boro Harvest: Good yield delights coastal farmers
Boro cultivation has brought smiles to a good number of farmers at many coastal villages in Barguna, with a bumper yield of the paddy this season.
8 May 2023
Tourist spots abuzz with Eid holidaymakers
Many recreational places in the port city were seen abuzz with visitors of different walks of life on Eid holidays.
24 April 2023
Kuakata ready to welcome more Eid visitors this year
At least 2 lakh tourists would visit Kuakata in Patuakhali during the holiday from Wednesday to Sunday, assumed local businessmen related to the tourism industry
22 April 2023
Kuakata eyeing huge turnout this Eid
While tourism related businesses in Kuakata of Patuakhali are expecting an onrush of travellers amid the ongoing Eid holiday, those in Sreemangal upazila of Moulvibazar have been left disappointed by the low number of advance bookings.
20 April 2023
Travellers suffer without direct bus service
As Eid approaches, several lakh travellers from four upazilas of Patuakhali are facing severe inconvenience, as direct bus service between these upazilas and Dhaka have been suspended.
18 April 2023