Intermittent rains since Thursday (May 02, 2024) morning brought respite to Chattogram city dwellers from the scorching heat that has been prevailing across the country for the last several days. Rain and thunderstorm started around 9:30 am in different parts of the Port City. As rain provided relief, many expressed gratitude by posting on their social media profiles. 4 family members among 5 killed in Habiganj road accident Md Abdul Barek, a meteorologist at Patenga Weather Office, said they have recorded one mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours till 9 am on Thursday and city dwellers will likely experience more rains today. Besides, the river ports have been asked to hoist local cautionary signal no 1 and more rains with thunderstorms will likely occur in the district. According to Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely to occur at a few places over Chattogram and Sylhet divisions and at one or two places over Dhaka, Mymensingh and Barishal divisions with hails at isolated places. Weather may remain mainly dry with temporary partly cloudy sky elsewhere over the country. Dhaka’s air ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ this morning Meanwhile, a very severe heatwave is sweeping over the districts of Jashore, Khulna, Chuadanga, Pabna and Rajshahi and severe heatwave is sweeping over the districts of Tangail, Faridpur, Gopalganj and rest of the Khulna division. A mild to moderate heatwave is sweeping elsewhere over the country and it may abate from some places over the eastern part of the country.

Though flood water is receding, marks of devastation are becoming apparent in the Port City and Chattogram. Some 50 km of roads across 41 wards of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) and crops of over 50,000 hectares of land in the district have been badly damaged by the flood. Moreover, 2.19 km of drains and 2 km of footpath were damaged in Chattogram city. The information was provided by CCC and district administration. UNB’s Chattogram correspondent found the topmost layer on several roads in areas including Bandar, Halishahar, Muradpur to Oxygen, Bayezid Bostami, Khatiberhat, Jakir Hossain, Jamal Khan and Omar Ali Matobbor under the CCC were damaged. Read: Flood situation improves in Bandarban Footpaths of the city’s Kazir Dewri to Love Lane Road and Jubilee Road were submerged and potholes were created, causing immense public suffering. Munirul Huda, additional chief engineer of the CCC, said Tk 60 crore will be sought from the Local Government Ministry to repair the damaged roads. According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Chattogram, crops of 165 hectares of land in the city’s Panchlaish, Double Mooring and Patenga areas were damaged. Of them there were Aush paddy and vegetables. Seedbeds of 32,719 hectares of lands of Aman paddy and 6,567 hectares of crops were damaged in 15 upazilas of the district. Aush paddy was supposed to be harvested at the end of this month. Read: Flood situation in Ctg, Feni, Bandarban and Cox`s Bazar may improve in 24 hrs: FFWC Gumai Bil which is located in Rangunia upazila and considered a “major grain source” of Chattogram had been under water for a week due to the flood. Dr Aurbinda Kumar Roy, additional director of Chattogram region at DAE, told UNB that they primarily estimated that crops of over 50,000 hectares of land were damaged by the flood in the city and district. People of the port city and district experienced an unprecedented flood from August 4 to 7 after a torrential rainfall started on August 1. A total of 664 mm of rainfall was recorded during this time, breaking the previous record of the last 30 years. The water of Sangu, Matamuhuri, Dalu, Karnaphuli and Halda rivers surged, resulting in a flood in the city and district. Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Abul Bashar Mohammed Fakhruzzaman told UNB that the extent of damages caused by the flood was estimated over Tk 135 crore and efforts are on to collect data in this regard.  Read more: Flashflood in Cox’s Bazar: Vehicular movement on Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar suspended

Three people including a woman and her minor son were burned to death and another was critically injured in a fire at a house in Syedpara area of Chattogram port city on Sunday (May 28, 2023).   The deceased are Nur Nahar Begum, 30, her one-year-old son Maruf, and neighbour Md Imam Uddin, 23. Details about them could not be known immediately. They succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment at the Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) at noon, Nurul Alam Ashiq, assistant sub inspector at the hospital police outpost, said. Read more: Fire at building in capital’s Adabar under control Condition of burned three-year-old Firiya, daughter of Nur Nahar, was stated to be critical, he said.   Ferdous Jahan, officer-in-charge of Bayezid Bostami police station, said the fire originated from a mosquito coil at the shanty of one Tota Miah and it engulfed two other adjacent shanties within a few minutes around 4:30am.   On information, police rushed to the spot and rescued four people and sent them to the hospital, he said. Read more: Fire in building on SUST campus under control Chittro Ranjan, chief leader of Agrabad Fire Station, said on information two firefighting units rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control later.

Incessant rainfall for the last three days caused waterlogging in low-lying areas of Chattogram port city. Some people were seen wading through knee to waist-deep water to reach their destinations in the morning due to lack of transport. Office-goers and others had to pay extra fares to reach their workplaces. Also read: Heavy downpour floods Chattogram city; 4 killed in landslides Many areas including Bakolia, Agrabad, Muradpur, No 2 Gate, Bohoddar Hat were submerged by rainwater, triggering traffic jam in different parts of the city.

Chattogram North Zone, South Zone, Agrabad and Khatunganj corporate branches of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) recently organised the "Agent Banking Business Development Conference" and "Workshop on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing." At a port city hotel, Mohammed Monirul Moula, managing director and CEO of the bank, addressed the conference as chief guest. READ: IBBL holds agent banking conference in port city IBBL Additional Managing Director Muhammad Qaisar Ali; deputy managing directors JQM Habibullah, Md Nayer Azam; executive vice-presidents ASM Rezaul Karim, Miah Md Barkat Ullah, and Senior Vice-President Mohammad Nurul Hossain Kawsar also spoke. Md Maksudur Rahman, senior executive vice-president, presided over the function.

Residents of Chattogram, the country's most important urban centre next to the capital, have voiced their displeasure over plans to build a 500-bed hospital as well as a medical college over six acres of land in a historic corner of the city, that is also cherished for its greenery. The CRB area, that takes its name from the Central Railway Building - built by the British colonial administration in 1872 as the headquarters of the Assam-Bengal Railway - is a scenic, hilly quarter of the Port City known for its Shireesh trees (Albizia Lebeck)  Surrounded by centuries-old trees, hills, hills and valleys, this area is home to a variety of species of birds and animals. Chattogram residents celebrate the Bengali New Year on April 14 every year on an open stage called "Shireeshtala" at CRB area. CRB also hosts the famed "Boli Khela", an annual freehand wrestling challenge that draws competitors from far and wide.  Read Rotary Governor Faruqui set to open plantation of 1 million saplings Besides, ordinary citizens of all ages and backgrounds gather in the area every day to catch the fresh air. It's not as if Chatdgaiyas are spoilt for choice when it comes to medical facilities in the city. The trading hub's moneyed residents routinely have to visit Dhaka to avail the services available at large, private hospitals. This demand for private healthcare has now been noticed. Earlier this year, Evercare Hospitals opened a 470-bed facility in the Ananna R/A of Chattogram. Evercare have also taken over the old Apollo Hospital in Dhaka from the STS Group.  Read Rampal Maitree power project “to be commissioned in Dec” Recently it emerged that Bangladesh Railway, which owns much of the land in the CRB area, struck a deal in March 2020 with United Enterprise and Company (owners of United Hospital in Dhaka) to build a 500-bed hospital and 100-seat medical college on six acres of land in CRB.

Police on Sunday arrested three people on charges of gang-raping a garment worker in the Bandar Thana area of Chattogram city.

A young man was burned to death as a fire broke out at a private shipping storehouse in Patenga area of the port city early Thursday.