Sohrab Hossain

Despite a bumper yield of watermelon in Barishal division, the top producer of the popular summer fruit, farmers and traders fear massive losses because of the new containment measures aimed at curbing the rise in coronavirus infections.

The construction of a bridge on Payra river in the Lebukhali area of ​​the Patuakhali-Dhaka highway is set to be complete by July this year.

A coal-fired Payra power plant of 1,320 megawatts (MW) in Dhankhali area under ​​Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali district is awaiting inauguration.

Physically challenged Rozina Begum was left with two young children when she was widowed six months ago, at only 35 years of age.

There was a time when the vast sandy coastline along the Bay of Bengal was considered barren.

There once was a time when only one crop was produced across 15 villages in Nilganj union of Patuakhali’s Kalapara upazila due to the high salinity of the soil.

Aman paddy growers in Barishal’s Patuakhali district are very pleased with current prices as each maund (about 37 kilogrammes) is fetching about Tk 400-500 more than that last year.

Another coal-based power plant is being set up in Dhankhali area under Kalapara of Patuakhali district to generate 1,320 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

An environment-friendly pest control method called ‘perching’ is gradually gaining popularity among farmers, who are finding the method suitable especially for rice fields.

Ash gourds are hanging from the net on tree in her home yard. Each ash gourd weighs around 5kg. She has also cultivated other vegetables in the yard. She has used vermicompost fertiliser in the yard.

The government’s efforts to fast-track the construction of Payra deep-sea port in Patuakhali has received a blow as the primary infrastructure development project is set to be delayed by two years while the cost will go up by Tk 1,024 crore.

For nearly four decades, encroachers and trespassers have been tightening their grip on about nine acres of lucrative land, belonging to Water Development Board (WDB), near Mohipur fish landing station in Kalapara upazila.

The flood protection embankment of the Bishkhali river, which flows through the southern part of Patharghata town in Barguna, is gaining popularity among tourists.

The forested areas inside the national park adjacent to the Kuakata beach are disappearing over time as sand is continuously being eroded by waves, eventually uprooting and sweeping away trees.

Video footage that went viral in social media clearly showed Ayesha Siddika Minni was trying to save her husband Rifat Sharif from the group of young men who killed him.

Ayesha Siddika Minni, the widow of slain Rifat Sharif, and five others were sentenced to death yesterday for killing the youth in broad daylight in Barguna in June last year.

For the first time in the country, researchers at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) have developed seeds for watermelons that come in two colours -- red and yellow -- and can be cultivated all year round.

Cattle markets in Patuakhali are now buzzing with buyers and sellers of sacrificial animals ahead of Muslim religious festival Eid-ul-Azha to be celebrated in the country on August 1.

The pandemic has ruined livelihoods of many hardworking honest people, but it apparently could not stop those who had been repeatedly feasting on public money.

Coastal fishermen, especially those fishing at sea, are passing days amid much hardship, facing the coronavirus pandemic, super cyclone Amphan and lastly the ongoing 65-day-long ban on fishing while the compensation provided by the government is too small to meet their requirement.