‘Sheikh Hasina Regional Park’, set to be established on 442 acares of land in Keraniganj  under Detailed Area Plan (DAP 2022-2035),will be Dhaka’s largest park, surpassing National Botanical Garden and Ramna Park. Mushtaq Ahmed, the Chief Architect of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), said Rajuk has already appointed an implementation and consulting firm for the park, and a consultant team has been engaged for the construction work. They are working on the park's design, he said. Read: As 3-month ban on tourism ends, Sundarbans abuzz with local and foreign travellers Rajuk's urban planner Mohammad Ashraful Islam, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, and Keraniganj Upazila Chairman Shaheen Ahmed, in collaboration with Rajuk's project team have finalized location  of the park. The construction of this park is expected to commence shortly, he said. Detailed Area Plan 2016-2035 for Dhaka Metropolitan Region aims to create an eco-friendly and modern city by constructing five large regional parks, 49 water-based parks, eight eco parks (including Bhawal Shal Forest), and nine other parks and playgrounds. Read: Chapainawabganj agriculture entrepreneur’s innovative mango cultivation technique doubles yield As part of this initiative, Rajuk has acquired approximately 422 acres of land in Subhadhya, Kullirchak, Baghair, and Kazirgaon mouzas of Keraniganj upazila in Dhaka, designating it as Sheikh Hasina Regional Park. The proposed land use for this park is designated as open space. Rajuk also intends to construct a new 100-feet road on the western side of Sheikh Hasina Regional Park. The project is currently awaiting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s approval. At a programme here recently Nasrul Hamid told reporters that  National Botanical Garden was established in 1961 on 208 acres or 624 bighas of land near the National Zoo. After that area, Ramna Park is in second place with an area of 68.5 acares. Sheikh Hasina Regional Park in Keraniganj will set a new record in terms of size, surpassing the botanical garden and Ramna Park, he said. Read: Country’s first electrical testing laboratory on the cards Several senior officers from Rajuk, along with local MP and Upazila Chairman,  recently visited the proposed park location in Keraniganj. The delegation included Rajuk member and project planner Mohammad Nasir Uddin, member (development control) Samsuddin Ahmed Chowdhury, Bangladesh University of Engineering (Buet) Professor Md. Al Amin, and others.

The work of building the first model child labour-free district by implementing the Keraniganj project on the outskirts of the capital is already underway, stakeholders said in a meeting held at a Dhaka hotel Monday. The meeting was held on the progress of the national action plan prepared in the context of Bangladesh to eliminate child labour by 2025 to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 8 under the initiative of Unicef Bangladesh and the Ministry of Labor and Employment. It highlighted five strategic plans to free the country from child labour within the next three years. Read: "Children can and should be powerful change-makers in their families, schools and communities" Ministry of Labor and Employment Joint Secretary Hazera Khatun said Bangladesh has made significant progress in eliminating child labour in the last few decades. Despite that, 6.8 percent of the country's children aged 5-17 are still involved in vulnerable child labour." "So, these plans have been adopted to protect children from violence, deprivation of rights and torture under the national five-year plan to build a child labour-free Bangladesh by 2025," she added. Unicef Bangladesh Chief of Child Protection Natalie McCauley said if Bangladesh is to be free from child labour, the scope of social activities should be extended to the village level. She also urged the relevant ministries to work in a coordinated manner to keep records of the children who fell out of primary school. Read: Heatwaves to impact almost every child by 2050: UNICEF report Elisa Calpona, Unicef child protection manager, said: "In 2022, Unicef and the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment and the Ministry of Labor and Employment signed a memorandum of understanding to join forces in the elimination of child labour to meet the SDG Target 8.7." Md Towfiqul Arif, additional secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Employment, emphasised the formation of a national committee for the implementation of a child labour-free Bangladesh.

Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) claimed to have seized nearly 7.432kg of gold worth Tk5 crore from a passenger bus at South Keraniganj in the capital on Saturday.During a raid on a bus near Babu Bazar Bridge, CIID also detained 12 people, including three Indians, for their involvement in gold smuggling, Shafiqul Islam, revenue officer of the directorate, said.The identities of the detainees could not immediately be confirmed, Shafiqul added. "The details will be disclosed through a press briefing on Sunday. Read: Bangladesh gets Tk200 crore smuggled gold every day: BAJUS

Two people were killed in a collision between two trucks on Dhaka-Mawa Bangabandhu Highway in Keraniganj upazila of Dhaka early Wednesday. The deceased were identified as truck driver Hossain Sheikh, 25, and helper of another truck Imon, 19. Details of the deceased could not be known yet. Read more: Schoolboy killed in Dhaka road crash Utfal Kumar, sub inspector of Hasada highway police station, said the accident occurred around 2am when a speeding Dhaka-bound truck from Mawa rammed into a stationary truck in Rajendarapur area, leaving the duo dead on the spot. The Highway police station’s OC Molla Jakir Hossain said they seized the trucks after the accident. Read more: One dead, five injured in Bagerhat road crash A case was filed in this connection.

The death toll from the explosion in a gas pipeline in Keraniganj rose to six, with another victim succumbing to his injuries at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) on Thursday morning. The deceased was identified as Yeasin, 12. Yeasin, who sustained 28% burn injuries, breathed his last in the intensive care unit of Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery under DMCH around 7.50am, said DMCH police outpost in-charge Inspector Md Bacchu Mia. The body has been kept in the hospital morgue, he said. Read:Six of family injured in gas pipeline explosion in Keraniganj On August 30, six members of the family suffered critical burn injuries in a fire triggered by the explosion in the gas pipeline of their house in the Jinjira area of Keraniganj. Maria Akter, 8, succumbed to her burn injuries hours after she was brought to the hospital. Shahadat Hossain, 20, and his grandmother Begum, 60, died on Friday at the hospital. On Monday, Panna Begum, 50, succumbed to her burn injuries at the same hospital while Sonia Akter, 26, died on Tuesday.

The death toll from the explosion in a gas pipeline in Keraniganj rose to three as two of the six victims died at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) on Friday. The deceased were identified as Shahadat, 20, and his grandmother Begum, 60. Shahadat, who sustained 52 percent burn injuries, breathed his last at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery around 2:30 pm, said the hospital’s Resident Surgeon Dr SM Ayub Hossain. Begum died around 6:30 pm while undergoing treatment at the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) with 23 percent burn injuries, he added. The bodies were kept at the hospital morgue, said DMCH police outpost in-charge Inspector Md Bacchu Mia. Read: Fire breaks out at DNCC building On Tuesday, six members of a family suffered critical burn injuries in a fire in the gas pipeline of their house in the Jinjira area of Keraniganj. Maria Akter, 8, succumbed to her burn injuries hours after she was brought to the hospital. The other injured are Iduni Begum, 50, Sonia Akter, 26, Md Sahadat Hossain, 20, and Md Yasin, 12.

Six members of a family suffered critical burn injuries in an explosion in the gas pipeline of their house in the Jinjira area of Keraniganj early on Tuesday. The injured are Begum, 60, Iduni Begum, 50, Sonia Akter, 26, Md Sahadat Hossain, 20, Maria Akter, 8, and Md Yasin, 12. The explosion occurred around 4.30am in the family house in Jinjira's Mandail, said Mamun Ur Rashid, officer-in-charge of Keraniganj Model police station. Also read: 3 of family die from electrocution in Cumilla The injured were rescued and rushed to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery under Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), he said. “The condition of the injured in is critical,” said Bacchu Mia, in-charge of DMCH police outpost. Also read: 3 of family killed in Pabna road crash

In broad daylight, a group of armed and masked robbers stormed into a jewellery shop on the Dhaka-Mawa highway in Keraniganj and fled with 500 bhori gold Wednesday, police said. "Six motorcycle-borne men entered Al-Amin Jewellers at crowded Abdullahpur Bazar around 2pm. They fired about 15 bullets in the air and threw 12 bombs before and after committing the crime to terrorise the locals," Additional Superintendent of Police (Keraniganj circle) Shahabuddin said. After barging into the shop, the robbers also threatened the shop owner Shwapon (50) and his staff to remain mum and not to resist. "The robbers left the area after committing the robbery in five minutes. As Shwapon tried to catch one of them, they shot him in the leg," Shahabuddin said. "Legal actions will be taken against them," he added. Also read: Narayanganj: 6 highway robbery gang members held; 2 victims rescued

The body of a boatman was fished out of the Buriganga river at Bashpatti in Keraniganj early Wednesday, nearly four hours after he went missing, said police. The deceased was identified as Md Sohrab. Mamunur Rashid, officer-in-charge (OC) of Keraniganj Model police station, said Sohrab fell into the river when Monir Hossain, a passenger, hit him on his head with a piece of wood following an altercation around 9pm on Tuesday.   Later, divers of the Naval police fished out the body from the river around 12:30 am. Read:Missing BUET student’s body fished out of Padma After the incident, the locals thrashed Monir and handed him over to the police station, the OC added. Besides, about one hundred enraged boatmen besieged the police station with the body demanding justice. Police sent the body to the Mitford Hospital morgue for autopsy on Wednesday. A case was also filed at Keraniganj Model police station, said the OC.

An 18-year-old youth was stabbed to death allegedly by a group of men following an argument over jumping a queue at an NID centre in Dhaka's Keraniganj upazila on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Murad, son of Mojibur Rahman. Shahabuddin Kabir, additional SP of Keraniganj Police, said Murad, along with his friend Nafi, went to Nayabazar Degree College at Narandi intersection to get a photo clicked for his NID. Read: Two found dead in Keraniganj:Police An argument broke out between Murad and a group of young men, led by Shaheb Ali of Shilaritola village, over jumping the queue at the college. The men had also come there for the same purpose. And when Murad was returning to his home, Shaheb and others stabbed Murad multiple times, leaving him injured. Murad’s friend Nafi also sustained injuries trying to save him, the additional SP said. Murad died on the way to a local hospital while Nafi has been admitted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. “No complaint has been lodged in connection with the murder,” said Kabir.