Sohrab Hossain

Passengers of Patuakhali are bearing the brunt as bus services in the district were suspended this morning (November 4, 2022) ahead of BNP’s divisional rally in Barishal tomorrow.

Only eight out of 61 plots have so far been allotted in the BSCIC industrial estate in Barguna as entrepreneurs are not showing much enthusiasm in securing land for higher costs in the coastal district well-known for agricultural produce and fisheries.  

Due to technical problems, operations of Patuakhali’s Kalapara radar station have remained suspended for four whole years.

Fishers in the coastal district of Patuakhali are yet to get any support from the government’s Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme even though eight days have passed since the 22-day ban on catching hilsa began on October 7.

A total of 20.45 kilometres of flood-control embankments have been damaged in eight upazilas of Patuakhali due to downpour and tidal surge, triggered by depression over the Bay.

Some influential locals have reportedly built dams in at least 10 places of the 2.5-km Char Immersion Government Canal  in Patuakhali’s Rangabali upazila for farming fish.

Barguna’s Chawra canal is on the verge of extinction due to encroachment and pollution.

Former expat Habibur Rahman Matubbar, a resident of Kewabunya village under Amtali upazila in Barguna, has been enjoying great success in cultivating malta on his 15 bighas of land for the past seven years or so.

Farmers of  Rangabali upazila of Patuakhali are struggling to save their crops from flooding as most of the sluice gates installed on various rivers and canals  remain inoperative due to a lack of maintenance.

Mariam Akhter Anika is a 10th grader at Pangashia Girls’ High School in Patuakhali’s Dumki upazila. However, during most of her classes she remains distracted -- staring at the ceiling and the beams to watch out when the plaster falls off. 

Despite being rich in birdlife, habitat destruction is looming over the country’s avian species.

People in Bangladesh once barely knew about dragon fruit, also called pitaya, but it is gradually making its way into the fields by winning the hearts of farmers all over the country through its immense popularity.

Grameen Euglena, a joint venture between Japan’s Euglena Co Ltd and Bangladesh’s Grameen Krishi Foundation, has been processing moong dal collected from Patuakhali and exporting it to Japan since 2018.

All the garbage produced across Patuakhali town are dumped on the bank of Lawkathi river, contributing to serious environmental pollution and subsequent health hazard.

Patuakhali, a southern district on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, annually produces about 1.23 lakh tonnes of fish, of which 36,000 tonnes are consumed locally while the remainder is sold in different parts of the country.

Kuakata, home to the second largest beach in Bangladesh, is already visited by a large number of domestic and foreign tourists each year but their numbers could increase seven-fold once the Padma Multipurpose Bridge is officially opened, according to local businesspeople.

Kuakata, the country’s second largest sea beach, is being turned into a tourist destination without a structured plan, kicking out the native Rakhine population in the process.

Seven points in the junction of Tentulia, Agunmukha and Buragauranga estuaries in Patuakhali are one of the breeding grounds of the indigenous pangas fry in the country. The points have been declared as sanctuaries for breeding and migration of the indigenous species of pangas.

Farmers in Barishal division have bet on watermelon cultivation to help overcome the economic challenges brought on by Covid-19, such as losses incurred in growing other crops, as they are getting good prices this season.

Since Friday morning, navigation on Galachipa-Dhaka river route has remained suspended for constructing a bridge over Lohalia river, adjacent to Patuakhali town.