People in Jhenaidah district are demonstrating the power of unity in their efforts to co-create their city. Award-winning architect couple Khondakar Hasibul Kabir and Suhailey Farzana, who are based in Jhenaidah, are motivating local communities to get engaged. Both the current and former mayors of the district town are also supporting them. Through consistent community participation and appropriation, extensive involvement of women, marginalised groups, and a local workforce, the seemingly simple undertaking of cleaning up the access to the Nabaganga river in Jhenaidah led to a thoughtful and minimal landscaping project with local materials and construction techniques. Thus, came about the transformation of a derelict informal dump site into an attractive and accessible multifunctional space that is valued by Jhenaidah’s diverse communities. The project managed to reverse the ecological degradation of the river and its banks and health hazards. Future phases focus on public use of the river area with walkways, gardens, cultural facilities and environmental efforts to enhance biodiversity in the river. Read: Bangladesh has a bright future if it chooses right development path: Dan Negrea The Urban River Spaces project in Jhenaidah, created by the local architect couple was the winner of 2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. “I will be helping you in your future plan for Jhenaidah. Rivers are the best resources for any city and it is a blessing for us that we have a river in the city,” said Jhenaidah Municipality Mayor Md. Quayum Shahrear Zahedee Hizawl.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members seized 91 gold bars weighing 11.73 kg from Chuadanga and Jhenaidah districts on Tuesday. Tipped off, a team of BGB conducted a drive in Darshana Thana in Jhenaidah on Tuesday and detained a man while he was taking six gold bars to Jibannagar upazila, said Mohammad Saiful Islam, assistant director of BGB-58 battalion. Read more: 9 gold bars seized in Benapole The detainee is Abdus Shukur,35, son of Tabir Rahman of Nutanpara village of Chuadanga's Jibannagar upazila. Later, the gold bars worth around Tk 51 lakh were recovered from his possesion, the officer said. A case will be filed against the detainee, he said adding that the gold bars will be handed over to Darshana police. In Jhenaidah, a special patrol team of Jadavpur BOP under Maheshpur Battalion conducted an operation in Gopalpur village in Maheshpur upazila. Read more: 80 gold bars seized from Jashore border During the drive, 85 gold bars weighing 11.390 kg were recovered by digging soil in a banana orchard. The seized gold worth over Tk 8 crore will be deposited at the Jhenaidah Treasury Office after filing a case at Maheshpur Police Station, said Saiful Islam.

The half-decomposed body of a 16-year-old teen on Saturday was recovered from a paddy field five days after he went missing from his home in Shailkupa upazila of the district. The deceased was identified as Hridoy Hossain, son of Tota Mia of Jungalia village under the upazila. Selim Akter, a member of Kacherkoul Union Parishad, said the youth left his house after an argument with his parents five days back. Read more: Body of a man found at Matlab in Chandpur Locals spotted the body in the paddy field in the morning and subsequently informed the law enforcers. Aminul Islam, officer-in-charge of Shailkupa police station, said they sent the body to Sadar Hospital for autopsy after recovering from the field. The youth might have been killed but a concrete reason will be known after the postmortem, the OC added.

A Jhenaidah court on Tuesday sentenced nine people  to life term imprisonment for killing a woman after rape in 2011. The lifers are- Rosul, Shariful Islam, Amirul Islam, Golam Rosul, Abdul Aziz, Azizur Rahman, Zahidul Islam, Badshah Mia and Abdul Baten. Among them, Shariful and Amirul were tried in absentia. Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Md Mizanur Rahman delivered the judgment. The court also fined the convicts Tk 1 lakh each, in default, to suffer four months more in jail. According to the case statement, Renu Begum, wife of Arab Ali of Bishaykhali village of Jhenaidah sadar upazila, was raped and killed by the convicts in a bamboo forest on March 12 in 2011. On the following day, police recovered the body from the spot. A case was filed against 16 people at Jhenaidah Sadar police station in this regard. Advocate Bazlur Rahman, Public Prosecutor (PP) of the tribunal, said 10 accused were sentenced to life imprisonment but one of them died earlier.

A one-and-a-half month-old baby boy died after falling off his mother's lap in a road accident in Kaliganj upazila of Jhenaidah on Friday.The deceased was identified as Sizan, son of Shihab Hossain of Chhota Shimla village of the upazila.The accident occurred on Friday morning when a pick-up van hit the motorcycle they were on in the bus stand area of the upazila, said Abdur Rahim Mollah, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kaliganj Police Station.Sizan's mother Shanta Khatun and grandfather Abul Kalam also suffered injuries in the accident, added the OC.He said Shanta's father was riding the motorcycle while Shanta, the baby and grandfather  were on the back of the bike on their way to a doctor's visit. Read: Student dies falling off university building in cityOn the way, a Jhenaidah-bound pickup hit the motorcycle resulting in the baby falling off. The infant died on the spot.Locals rushed them to Kaliganj Upazila Health Complex.Police arrested the driver of the pick-up and seized the vehicle from the spot, added the OC.

Already hit hard by a drought-like situation in the district and rising fertiliser rates, farmers of Jhenaidah have been dealt another severe blow -- this time, by the recent fuel price hike and power crisis in the country. Farmers say their agricultural fields have dried up due to inadequate rainfall and their inability to continuously irrigate the same using diesel-powered pumps that entails a huge operational cost given the recent fuel price hike in Bangladesh. Besides, the prices of fertilisers have also increased over the past year, multiplying the losses of the farmers. Majnur Rahman of Rangiyarpota village in Sadar upazila, cultivated Ropa Aman on just five-and-a-half bighas of his eight-bigha land this year. "Rising fuel and fertiliser prices forced me to take such a decision." Another farmer, Jamal Uddin Biswas, expresses frustration over the recent fuel price hike. "If the fuel prices are not reduced, we will have to bear huge losses as the cultivation target will not be met this year," he says. Farmer Somir Uddin says the Aman paddy needs plenty of rainfall. "Due to scanty rains this year, farmers need to spend an extra Tk 1,200 per bigha for irrigation." Read:Why fuel price hike through gazette notification should not be declared illegal: HC Many farmers have demanded the provision of low-cost diesel through agricultural cards if the government cannot reduce fuel prices. "If the prices of fertilisers, fuel and electricity are increased in this agriculture-dependent country in this way, farmers will be forced to give up farming at some point,” Somir Uddin adds. Azgar Ali, deputy director of Jhenaidah Agricultural Extension Department, says a target has been set for the cultivation of Ropa Aman on 1,04,750 hectares of land in the district this year. "By mid-August, 53,262 hectares have been cultivated only. Besides, various types of vegetables are being cultivated on 2,554 hectares of land," he says. According to Azgar, there are two lakh farmer families in the district. "The target has not been met yet as the farmers could not irrigate their fields due to lack of water amid this fuel price hike and power crisis.We are advising the farmers to try their best to meet the target of Aman cultivation.” The government hiked the prices of fuel by a big margin on August 5. Diesel prices were increased by Tk 34 to Tk 114 per litre, octane by Tk 46 to Tk 135 per litre and petrol by Tk 44 to Tk 130 a litre. The government also recently embarked on rationing of power to tackle the ongoing energy crisis in the country.

Two fish traders died after a pickup van in which they were travelling crashed into a truck parked along the busy Jhenaidah-Kaliganj highway in Jhenaidah in the early hours of Thursday. The deceased were identified as Ohiduzzaman and Lutfar Rahman, both from Jashore district. Read: Two cousins die in Rajbari road crash The accident occurred around 1.30am when the Jashore-bound pickup van transporting fish from Bogura crashed into the stationary track in Kaliganj, leaving the duo dead on the spot, said Kaliganj Fire Service station manager Sheikh Mamunur Rashid. The bodies were sent to Jashore Sadar Hospital morgue by the police, he added.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Thursday claimed to have seized nine gold bars from near the Maheshpur border in Jhenaidah district. A BGB-58 team at Benipur BOP conducted a drive in the Lichu Bagan area of Pipulbaria village, 100 yards from the zero line of India-Bangladesh border, on Wednesday night and seized the gold bars weighing 1.68kg. Also read: Man held with 15 gold bars from Benapole The market value of the seized gold bars is Tk 1.16 crore. The process of depositing the gold bars to the treasury office is underway, BGB said in a release. A case will be filed at Maheshpur police station in this regard, it added. Also read: US national held with 59 gold bars at Dhaka airport

Two Jubo League activists were hacked to death in a clash between two groups over collecting toll of Kotchandpur municipality in Jhenaidah on Thursday. The deceased were identified as Akhtar Hossain, 22, and Jibon Mia, 21, of the district. Also read:Fish trader hacked to death in Khulna The clash broke out between Sramik league and Jubo league over controlling the toll collection at Chougacha bus stand around 11pm, said Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Kotchandpur Circle Mohaimenul Islam. At one point, they attacked each other with sharp weapons, leaving Jibon Mia dead on spot and Akhtar Hossain, Sohag and Sabbir critically injured. Akhtar succumbed to his injuries on the way to Jashore Medical College and Hospital where the other injured are undergoing treatment, the ASP added. Also read:Rohingya boatman hacked to death in Cox's Bazar According to locals, Ashraful, Amirul, Sohag and Mithu of Jatiya Paribahan Sramik League, of Kotchandpur Municipality Mayor's Group, used to control the toll collection at Chougachha bus stand. However, another group was assigned with this activity recently. And so, supporters of Don and Hasan of Mayor's Group went there to snatch the control of the toll collection in the morning. Meanwhile, police detained three people, including Don, for interrogation, said Md Moin Uddin, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kotchandpur police station. Efforts are on to nab the killers, he added.

A construction worker died as he fell from an under-construction building of a college in Kotchandpur upazila of Jhenaidah district on Saturday. The deceased was identified as Selim, 21, son of Tachhu Mondol of Amnura village under Nachole upazila of Chapainawabganj. Witnesses said Selim fell off the under-construction building of Kotchandpur Govt K M H Degree College and sustained serious injuries. READ: Man held with 12.5 kg gold in Jhenaidah He was rushed to Kotchandpur upazila health complex where doctors referred him to Jashore Sadar Hospital.  Selim succumbed to his injuries on way to Jashore, said Kotchandpur police station Officer-in-Charge M Moinuddin.