Awami League candidate and minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Md Tajul Islam has won the Cumilla-9 (Laksham-Monohorganj) constituency in the 12th parliamentary election held on Sunday. Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque wins in Tangail-1  He received 2,33,946 votes with his party’s ‘boat’ symbol, while his nearest rival, Md Abu Bakar Siddique of the Islamic Front Bangladesh, bagged 8,260 votes. Environment Minister Md Shahab Uddin elected MP for the fourth consecutive time The polling that began at 8:00 am concluded at 4pm without any break amid tight security in 299 out of the country’s 300 constituencies. The counting of votes started immediately after the end of voting. Trinamool BNP's Taimur loses security deposit

Underground water level of Dhaka is receding by two to three meters every year, while the rate is three meters a year in Chattogram city. LGRD Minister Tajul Islam on Monday said this in parliament while replying to a tabled question from ruling Awami League MP elected from Noakhali Morshed Alam. He also said at present the average underground water level in Dhaka city is 38 meters to 82 meters, depending on the areas. For Chattogram city, the average underground water level is 100 meters at present. Also Read: JS passes ‘Nursing and Midwifery Council (amendment) Bill 2023 The LGRD minister said that currently Dhaka WASA is supplying 66 percent of its supplied water from underground while 34 percent from surface. He also mentioned that the government has undertaken to construct three big water treatment plants for reducing the dependency on underground water in Dhaka city by 2025. “It is hoped that by 2025, it (Dhaka WASA) will be able to ensure water for Dhaka dwellers--70 percent from surface and 30 percent from underground.” For the Chattogram city, the minister said at present the rate of water harnessing from underground is 8 percent while the remaining 92 percent water comes from the surface. Read more: How to Build Dhaka as a Water Wise City

LGRD minister Tajul Islam on Monday said the government will revise the cost of various projects considering the rising cost of construction materials including rod.He said this in parliament Monday, replying to a supplementary question from independent lawmaker Rezaul Karim.The minister informed the House that this will be done within the next one week to 10 days.“In that case the contractors will be interested to carry out works of different projects,” he said.In the supplementary question, Rezaul Karim said, MPs have received a special allocation of Tk 20 crore. But development works remained stalled due to increasing price of rod. Also read: Cumilla city polls will be free, fair, and acceptable: LGRD Minister“The contractors are not working,” he added.He wants to know what alternative measures will be taken to break the stalemate.In response, the local government minister said prices of almost all commodities had risen worldwide due to two years of coronavirus infection and the ensuing Russia-Ukraine war.“Inflation in Bangladesh is much better than in the rest of the world. Even then the prices of construction materials including rods have gone up,” he said.The minister said he had raised the issue before the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a recent meeting. Also read: LGRD Minister calls for differentiated pricing of water for rich and poor“The Prime Minister has given instructions. According to that instruction, local government engineers following discussion with the officials of the finance ministry have taken initiative to re-fix the cost of different projects,” he added.In this case, Tajul Islam said that the contractors will be interested in working following extension of the project estimate.

People found parking their vehicles on the road haphazardly, should be punished instantly, said LGRD Minister Md Tajul Islam on Monday. It is quite common in the city that many shops were set up occupying roads and vehicles were seen parked haphazardly which is the main reason behind traffic congestion, he said. Tajul revealed this information while speaking at a dialogue on the title of ‘Unbearable tailback: What’s the solution?’ organized by Dhaka Utility Reporter’s Association (DURA) at Dhaka Reporters Unity. The minister also urged the law enforcement agencies to go tough on it. Also read: DU struggles to manage parking problems on the campus Traffic congestion is common in many countries and many of these have managed to reduce it but it is difficult for us, he said adding “We have to identify the problem and search for a solution. Though we are not sitting idle, we are working on it.” He also urged the authorities concerned to take steps to encourage people to use public transport as the number of private vehicles is increasing gradually. “It is not possible for one organisation to resolve the traffic jam problems alone and if we work together it can be possible to reach its desired goal. The participation of common people is needed in this regard,” said Tajul. It is needed to regulate the population in Dhaka city, he also said. The government is approving a Detailed Area Plan (DAP) and through it Dhaka will be expanded, he added. Also read: No respite from illegal parking in city Replying to a question on whether any steps would be taken to hand over the traffic management to two city corporations, LGRD minister said “The two city mayors are interested in working more and we want to see whether they have the capacity to manage the traffic system.”

The government will launch a long-term project on the supply of drinking water across the country through the use of internal sources of water, said LGRD Minister Md Tajul Islam on Thursday. “A study is underway to implement a master plan for setting up a water grid line to supply drinking water across the country, including the coastal areas,” he told a program on ‘Expansion of Citywide Inclusive Sanitation and Innovation of Sanitation’ organized by ITN-BUET at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in the capital. Read: DAP to be finalised by January: LGRD minister He said the government is setting several Economic Zones to attract both local and foreign investment and industrialisation. He also said that water will be pumped from the Meghna River to the Mirsarai Economic Zone. Regarding a new water treatment plant to be set up by Chattogram WASA, Tajul  said many other WASAs, including Dhaka WASA, have set up water treatment plants under the LGRD  to solve the country's drinking water problems. In addition, the Public Health Engineering Department has been working on water and sanitation for marginalized people. Meanwhile, regarding safe sanitation, he said that urbanisation has increased the problem of city sanitation not only in Bangladesh but elsewhere in the world. This has to be solved through an integrated programme. Read: LGRD minister calls for public awareness to prevent dengue About power generation from waste, the minister said that all kinds of waste including household and medical waste should be dumped in certain places. “Everyone must be aware to protect the environment.” He said that many houses in the residential areas of Dhaka city do not have their own septic tank. Their wastes are generally dumped directly into lakes or canals. “A campaign is being run to make everyone aware about this,” he added. BUET Vice Chancellor Prof Satya Prasad Majumder, Senior Secretary of LGRD Helal Uddin Ahmed, BUET Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Abdul Jabbar Khan and Deputy Director of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Dr Roshan Raj Shrestha were present at the event.

The Detailed Area Plan (DAP) that will guide the future construction of buildings in Dhaka city, the use of land and demarcation of canals and flow areas is expected to be finalized in next few months, LGRD minister Tajul Islam said on Wednesday. He made the remarks at a meeting of the technical committee on DAP held in the ministry’s conference room. "In order to finalize the DAP, we have already met with all stakeholders such as urban planners and architects. If everything goes well, the DAP will be finalized and published in the form of a gazette by next December or January,” he said. The minister agreed that many buildings with faulty designs have been constructed over the years tarnishing the beauty of the capital and putting the lives of its residents at risk. He also conceded that many of such buildings were established occupying government lands and canals. Read:Dhaka's skyline: DAP wants buildings not to get taller than 8 storey ones:  The minister warned that under no circumstances can these be allowed to happen again. Buildings must be constructed in accordance with the design and building codes, he said adding that engineers and all other relevant authorities must play a proper role in ensuring the rules.

Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Md Tajul Islam on Saturday said accountability must be established in the government bodies in order to build sustainable cities. The minister made the remark at a webinar marking ‘World Cities Day 2020’ organized by Center of Excellence for Urban Development (CEUD) Foundation, a consortium platform of Municipal Association of Bangladesh (MAB), Institute of Engineers Bangladesh (IEB), Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) and the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP). “Local government institutions need to be empowered. These must be made accountable. The officials need to understand what their responsibilities are. I became a minister not for pleasure, but for work. Whoever he is, he has to be accountable,” Tajul Islam added. He also said, "We could not make our urbanization like developed countries. We have to calculate how many people would live in the city. If we don't fix it, how can we ensure civic benefits? Waste management is a big challenge here. Our work is underway to make power generation from waste. We have some challenges, we have started working on them.“ This year’s theme for World Cities Day focuses on ‘Valuing our Communities and Cities’. Urban local governments in Bangladesh are characterized by limited capacities to plan, finance and deliver adequate urban infrastructure services to a rapidly growing population. The participants in the webinar said Bangladesh needs to better manage city planning and urban service delivery to build sustainable cities and communities. They discussed ways to bring together key stakeholders from the public and private sectors to respond to emerging challenges and foster cooperation to complement national efforts in ensuring sustainable urban development. “Bangladesh is an urban economy - over 60 percent of the GDP is generated by its cities. It is in the world’s top ten fastest urbanizing countries. But extremely poor infrastructure and low level of services and lack of amenities characterize the country’s urban areas,” said Dewan Kamal Ahmed, President of CEUD. He added Local governments receive only about 1 percent of the total budget and are highly dependent on grants and central government transfers. Municipalities depend on central transfers for 85 percent of development expenditures. Weak capacity to generate revenues means it ranges 4 to 6 percent of total annual expenditures. Md Rafiqul Islam Kotwal, Secretary General  of MAB and Mayor of Shariatpur Municipality, Engineer Dr Munaz Ahmed Noor, Architect Jalal Ahmed, President  of IAB, Planner Dr Akter Mahmud, President of BIP, its General Secretary Dr. Adil Mohammed Khan, Gazi Kamrul Huda Selim, Mayor, Manikganj Municipality, Engineer Dr. Habibur Rahman, Professor & Head, Department of Civil Engineering of BUET, Architect Mubashsar Hussain, former President of IAB and Planner Dr Abul Kalam, Professor, Department of Urban & Regional Planning of Jahangirnagar University, all attended the webinar. The event was moderated by Dr. Farida Nilufar, Secretary of Environment & Urbanization of IAB. Also read: Dhaka's canals to be renovated: LGRD minister

Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Md Tajul Islam on Wednesday urged the mayors of all city corporations to stand beside people during all disasters, including Covid-19 pandemic.

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) Minister Md Tazul Islam on Saturday said there is no alternative to concerted effort of all ministries, autonomous and non-governmental organisations to tackle the deadly coronavirus.