Members of Coast Guard (CG) seized 1,020 kilograms of shrimp injected with unhealthy jelly in the Meghna River on Tuesday. Lieutenant Commandant Khandakar Munif Taki, media officer of the CG Dhaka Zone, said acting on a tip-off a drive was conducted in Alubazar Ferry Ghat area and it seized the shrimps weighing around 1020 kilograms from a trawler. Read more: Shrimps inflated with jelly seized in Jashore Later, the shrimp injected with the jelly, which is considered to be injurious to health, were buried in presence of the upazila’s fishery officer and law enforcers, he added.

The MV-Sagar Nandini-2 vessel carrying 11 lakh metric tonnes of furnace oil, which sank in the Meghna River on Sunday, could not be salvaged till Tuesday. Already three vessels have reached in the Meghna River to salvage the vessel. Besides, local administration has formed a nine -member probe body, headed by Additional District Magistrate Ripon Kumar Saha, to look into the incident. The committee has been asked to submit its report within seven working days. Read more: Oil spill in Meghna river threatening environment, vessel still not recovered after 36 hours Md Shahjahan, director of river protection and management division of Bangladesh Inland and Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) visited the spot in the morning and said they are trying to recover the furnace oil from the river. To salvage a sunken vessel from the river is a time consuming matter as there are some explosive substances inside the vessel, he said. The main aim is to recover oil from the river, he added. If there is any negligence on the part of master found during investigation then action will be taken against him, said Shahjahan. Three vessels of SHR Navigation Company Limited—Sagar Badhu-3, Sagar Badhu-4 and Sagar Nandini-3---are trying to salvage the sunken vessel as per the decision of the owners as the BIWTA expressed incapability of salvaging the vessel, he said. He also expected to finish their salvage operation by Wednesday. Read more: Vessel with 11 lakh litre fuel sinks in Meghna river Vessel with 11 lakh litre fuel sinks in Meghna river Staff officer of Coast Guard South Zone, Lieutenant M Hasan Mehedi, said the coast guard members have been providing security to the sunken vessel round the clock since Sunday and already a barge named ‘Humaira’ from Chandpur is on the way to salvage the vessel. The oil chambers inside the vessel have been sealed by the divers and there is no scope to spill out oil, he said. Meanwhile, a large area in the Meghna river has been polluted by furnace oil spill since the vessel with 11 lakh litres of oil sank in the river — posing threat to biodiversity and environment. Jamal Hossain, senior fisheries officer of Bhola Fisheries Department, said fish in the river will be in danger due to the oil spill. A lighter vessel with 11 lakh litres of fuel sank after being hit by another vessel in Meghna river due to dense fog in sadar upazila of Bhola district early Sunday. KM Shafiul Kinjal, media officer of Coast Guard South Zone, said the vessel named ‘Sagar Nandini-2’ from Chattogram port sank in Meghna as another vessel hit it at Tulatuli Majher Char while heading towards Chandpur Padma Depot around 4am on Sunday. The accident took place due to poor visibility caused by the dense fog. All the fuel spilled into the river. Local people later collected the fuel in containers. Fortunately, all 13 crew members of the vessel have been rescued by another vessel passing through the area.

A man went missing when a trawler sank in the Meghna River in Chandpur district on Tuesday morning. The victim was identified as Delwar Hossain, 35, driver of the trawler. Md Quamruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Chandpur river police station, said the Shariatpur-bound goods-laden trawler with four people including its driver sank in the river near Meghna-Dakatia estuary. Read: Two dead, two others missing in Noakhali trawler capsize All but the driver of the trawler went missing while the others managed to swim ashore. A complaint has been lodged in this connection.  

A group of cattle traders returning home by a ferry after selling their cattle and goats was robbed of Tk 30 lakh by armed men in the Meghna river off the coast of Barishal on Tuesday. Faruk Hossain, sub-inspector of Kaliganj River Police, said Aziz Shikdar, a cattle trader, along with 10-15 others, hired the vessel to go to Laxmipur Mollarhat from Char Ekokria for selling 28 cattle and 50 goats ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. Read: 7 injured in clash between rival BCL factions at Barishal University While they were returning home after selling all the goats and 18 cattle, armed robbers got into the ferry in the Lalboya area around 6pm, thrashed them and decamped with the cash, the officer said. "A probe is on," said SI Faruk.

The Appellate Division on Sunday canceled the High Court judgement allowing Laxmipur UP Chairman Md Selim Khan to extract sand from the Meghna River in Chandpur. A three-member bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order. Two other members of the bench are Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice M Enayetur Rahim. Following the order, Selim Khan will no longer be able to extract sand in 21 mouzas on the banks of the Meghna in Chandpur, said Attorney General AM Amin Uddin, the state's chief legal officer. Deputy Attorney General Kazi Mainul Hasan appeared for the state in the court while senior lawyer Ajmalul Hossain QC for Selim Khan. In 2015, Selim Khan filed a writ petition seeking directions for sand extraction after conducting a hydrographic survey in Meghna river at his own expense in 21 mouzas of Chandpur and Haimchar upazila. The writ was filed mentioning to activate a route for water transport. The High Court issued a rule on July 9 of the same year on the primary hearing of the writ petition. Also Read: Modern launch terminal to be constructed in Chandpur facebook sharing buttonwhatsapp sharing buttonmessenger sharing buttontwitter sharing buttonemail sharing button Later, on 5 April 2018, the High Court disposed of the rule delivering verdict saying that there is sufficient sand and soil in the river of those mouzas and there is no obstacle to extract it. No response (affidavit) was submitted to the court on behalf of the respondents (Land Secretary, Shipping Secretary, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) chairman, Chandpur deputy commissioner and hydrography department director) so that the matter (having sand) seemed credible. The verdict directed the defendants, including Chandpur deputy commissioner, to allow sand extraction of 86.30 cubic meters (30.46 crore cubic feet) from the Meghna river in 21 mouzas. In March this year, the state filed a leave to appeal to the Appellate Division seeking stay of the High Court order regarding sand extraction in Maghna. According to the state's leave to appeal, the High Court did not realize that the hydrographic survey report is not the sole basis for extracting sand from a river under the Balumahal and Soil Management Law. According to the Balumahal and Soil Management Law, whether there is any damage to the environment, landslides, diversion of river or canal water, government establishments (such as bridges, culverts, roads, ferry terminals, markets, tea gardens, river dams, etc.) and residential areas or not, Deputy Commissioner will take the opinion of the authorities concerned. Besides, the deputy commissioner can send a proposal to the divisional commissioner to cancel the balumahal if there is not enough extractable sand, or if there is any possibility of harm of nature and ecology for sand or soil extraction or important government establishment, or public interests. Leave to Appeal further said that no assessment has been made from Chandpur deputy commissioner office regarding sand extraction from Chandpur shoals. Even the mouzas mentioned in the writ have not been declared as Balummahal by the Divisional Commissioner. Hydrographic surveys are used to identify or map where the soil is at the bottom of a river in a modern way. Hydrographic survey is to be done first to extract sand from shoals. And so, the HC order to allow the Selim Khan to extract sand is null and void. On April 4, the hearing of Leave to Appeal was held in the Appellate Division Chamber Judge's Court. On the same day, the judge of the chamber judge shifted the state's appeal to the regular bench of the Appellate Division suspending the HC verdict.    

A trawler carrying 3,100 sacks of cement capsized during a nor'wester in the Meghna river off the coast of Chandpur on Wednesday. Fortunately, no casualties were reported. Mozammel Hossain, the captain of the trawler, said the vessel coming from Munshiganj sank in the river while crossing the Boro station area of Chandpur. Also Read: Trawler capsizes in Meghna: 2 bodies recovered,1 missing The staff on board was rescued by another trawler, he added.    A case was filed at the Chandpur sadar police station in this connection, said Abdur Rashid, officer-in-charge. Jahirul Islam, owner of the trawler, claimed to have suffered a loss of Tk 16 lakh in the accident. Meanwhile, local divers said that "it is difficult to fish out the trawler due to the depth of the river". Also Read: Trawler capsize at Bay: 3 missing fishermen rescued  

Body of a 55-year-old crew member of a sand-laden vessel who went missing after it sank following a collision with a launch in the Meghna river was recovered on Saturday. The deceased was lascar of the vessel, Motaleb from Bhola district. On Wednesday, the ill-fated vessel, ‘Makam-3’, with six crew members on board, capsized in the river off the coast of Charkishoregnj in Munshiganj after being hit by Barishal-bound 'MV Surovi-7' launch around 11pm. Lascxar could not get out of the sunken vessel while five others managed to swim ashore. Until Friday coast guard, river police and the diving team of fire service could not find Lashkar conducting a rescue mission from Thursday morning, said Inspector Zahirul Haque of Kalagachia river police outpost. “As on Saturday afternoon the vessel was pulled out of the water the crews body floated on the water,” The body has been sent for an autopsy, he added. Meanwhile the launch owners of MV Surovi-7 filed a case in this regard. Rescued crews of the sand laden vessel, Sobuj,32, Md Aktar, 18, Abdul Khalek,65, Imran,20 were arrested in this regard and the court sent them to jail while another Md Hridoy,18 remained absconding, said Inspector Zahirul Haque.

A portion of Chandpur town protection dam has collapsed into the Meghna River, triggering panic among local people. Concrete Cement (CC) blocks of 25 meters area were washed away by the  Meghna River near Chandpur Madrasa road around 6am on Sunday within 10 minutes, said local people. Read:Teen killed as bike ride turns fatal for 3 minors in Chandpur Mamun Hawladar, additional executive engineer of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), said at least 25 meters area collapsed into the river and the surrounding area is also vulnerable. “Dumping of CC blocks started on Monday morning. We have 14,700 CC blocks in stock,” said the official. Read:Long-cherished Chandpur-Sylhet intercity train still a dream However, there is nothing to panic, the official added. Deputy Commissioner Anjana Khan Majlish visited the spot.

Two people were killed as a speedboat  hit a trawler in the Meghna river at Marichakandi in Bancharampur upazila on Saturday night. The deceased are Farid Mia, 45, son of Juluf Mia and Jewel, 35, son of Khurshid Mia of the upazila. The speedboat with 10/12 passenger on board crashed into trawler while heading towards Marichakandi ghat on Saturday night, leaving two people injured. Also read: Food-laden trawler capsizes in Meghna River Later, Jewel and Farid died on way to hospitals in Dhaka and Narshingdi respectively. Also read: Bride among 7 dead as trawler sinks in Meghna However, police could not arrest anyone as the driver of the speedboat went into hiding.

The body of a child was recovered but two others remain missing after a trawler sank in the Meghna river near South Char Fashion upazila of Bhola on Sunday. The deceased was identified as Junayed, 3, while the trawler owner Swapan, 30, and his mother Bilkis Begum,50, remained missing, said police sources. The trawler headed toward Kacchapia ghat from Char Patila drowned with nine passengers around 1 pm, said Abdul Hossain Mahajan, chairman of Char Kukri Mukri union. Also read: 3 female students drowns in Turag, another missing Of the passengers, six got rescued by nearby trawlers. Immediately after the incident Char Manika contingent coast guard and Dakkhin Aicha station police started a rescue operation to find the missing passengers. Also read: BRAC university student drowns in Cox’s Bazar Due to hostile weather and rough waves the rescue operation is being hindered, said LS Abdullah Al Mamun, one of the Coast Guard members in the rescue team.