BNP leader Dr Shahadat Hossain has taken oath as the new mayor of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC). Adviser to Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperative Ministry AF Hassan Ariff administered the swearing-in ceremony at the conference room of the Local Government Division at the Secretariat on Sunday morning. BNP’s standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, party’s spokesperson and standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed, organizing secretary Mahbubur Rahman Shamim, among others were present on the occasion.

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

Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) authorities on Tuesday suspended headmaster of Kapasgola City Corporation Girls High School Md Alauddin following protest against him for ‘sexually harassing’ female students. An office order of the City Corporation signed by its secretary Khaled Mahmud, said Alauddin has been suspended as allegations brought against him have been proved primarily. Read more: Headmaster withdrawn over sexually assaulting female students Earlier on Sunday, the accused headmaster was transferred to South Patenga City Corporation High School in the city. Two probe bodies have also been formed to look into the matter, read the order. On Sunday (January 1), the accused head teacher was confined to a room by agitated students. The  students staged protests demanding his removal. Read more: Number of complaints over sexual harassment at workplaces very poor: Speakers Parents of the students also participated in the protest. Many were also seen holding placards with various demands.

A Chattogram court on Tuesday acquitted 20 people, including an Awami League leader, from a case filed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for leasing Chattogram City Corporation’s  (CCC) 23 shops without publishing tender in the newspaper in 1997. Chattogram Divisional Special Judge Munshi Abdul Majid passed the order. Those cleared of the case are- Md Jahedul Alam Chowdhury, Khorshed Alam Chowdhury, Bakhtiyar Uddin Khan, AM Mainul Haque and his wife Nazneen Sultana, Mubarak Ullah, Nezamul Haque, Hosne Ara Begum, Md Yunus, Sheikh Sarwardi, Ishtiaq Ahmad Chowdhury, Md Ershadul Haque, Hasina Bhuiyan, Nur Nahar Begum, Hasan Murad, Didarul Islam, Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, Golman Ara Begum, Anjuman Ara Begum Minu and Mahbub Mintu. Earlier, former mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, the main accused in the case, was absolved by the court due to his death. READ:  ACC to submit report after drive at BSTI Advocate Sheikh Iftekhar Saimul Chowdhury, counsel for the defendants, said around 24 people were accused in this case. The ACC charge sheet recommended the acquittal of three persons during the main period. The ACC could not prove the allegations against the remaining 20 people before the court. “And so, we plead to the court for the acquittal of all the accused in the supplementary charge sheet,” he added. According to ACC, the 23 shops built by Chattogram City Corporation at Muradpur in the city were allotted between January and December in 1997. The then ACC inspector Shamsul Alam filed a case against 24 people at the Kotwali Police Station on October 13 in 2002, alleging lease of the shops without publishing tender in the newspaper and verification. Later, another ACC inspector Md Mobinul Islam also submitted a memorandum of evidence (ME) to the court. According to the ME, Mayor Mohiuddin Chowdhury did not publish any tender in the newspaper regarding the shop lease. The then mayor provided a written allotment order fixing the price and monthly rent of his shop.  Later, another inspector Jahangir Alam reviewed the ME of the two previous investigating officers and submitted a charge sheet in the court on February 9 in 2006. Following the writ petition of Mohiuddin Chowdhury, the High Court stayed the proceedings of the case on 22 February of the same year. READ: Fired ACC officer submits application for withdrawal of termination order On December 6 in 2012, the High Court lifted the ban on the proceedings of the case by dismissing the rule relating to the writ petition. Then the trial of the case began. On January 16 in 2019, the court directed further investigation into the case. According to the instructions of the ACC head office of the court, Fakhrul Islam, assistant director of ACC’s Chattogram integrated district office-1, submitted the charge sheet after investigating the case.

The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday cleared 10 development projects, including a Tk 2,490-crore one, for the development of different roads and infrastructures of Chattogram city aiming to remove its traffic chaos and enhance its beauty. The approval came from an Ecnec meeting presided over by Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who joined it virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban. The ministers and officials concerned were connected from the NEC conference room in the capital. “Ten projects, including seven revised ones, were approved in today’s meeting and the overall estimated cost of the projects is Tk 11,211.44 crore (only additional costs of revised projects were counted here),” said Planning Minister MA Mannan while briefing reporters after the meeting. Read:Turning Bangladesh into digital economy: Ecnec clears Tk 2,542 cr project About the revision of so many projects, he said some practical problems are there in Bangladesh, which delay the implementation of those. Describing the problems, the minister said the reasons behind the revision of projects in Bangladesh include Covid-19 pandemic, price-hike of project materials, land acquisition complexities, and delayed release of foreign funds. Talking about the project titled “Improvement of different roads including Airport Road and Development of important infrastructures under Chattogram City Corporation,’’ MA Mannan said the project will be implemented by December 2024. “It’s a large project since the incumbent mayor of the city was elected,” he said.

A survey team of Chittagong University has detected Aedes mosquito larvae at 15 spots of the port city after examining samples collected from 99 localities and suggested spraying mosquito repellant medicines to eradicate Aedes. Chittagong University Proctor Dr. Rabiul Hasan Bhuiyan,  the convener of the research team, disclosed it to UNB on Sunday night, although the official results of the survey which started on July 5 are yet to be released. Read: Dengue control room to function from tomorrow: DSCC Dr. Rabiul, however, refused to name the places where the larvae were found before the official submission of the survey report to City Corporation authorities. “We’ve also examined the effectiveness of different medicines on the Aedes mosquitoes. In our report, we’ll provide an overall strategy on how to make anti-mosquito drives more effective,” he added.  Chattogram City Corporation authorities said they will receive the survey report on Monday (Aug 2) and an all-out mosquito eradication drive will be initiated based on that. Read Dengue vs. COVID-19: Symptoms, when & where to test, ways of prevention

The newly elected mayor and 55 ward councillors of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) were sworn-in at a ceremony at Osmani Memorial Auditorium on Thursday.

BNP’s defeated mayoral candidate in the recently-held elections to the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) Dr Shahadat Hossain on Sunday announced to file three cases against the Election Commission (EC) on charge of vote ‘rigging’ and results ‘manipulation’.

A case has been filed over the killing of Alauddin, also known as Alam, one of the two dead amid violence and clash  centering the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) election on Wednesday.  

Awami League-backed Rezaul Karim Chowdhury has become the new mayor of Chattogram City Corporation, winning Wednesday's election with 369,284 votes.