Sylhet
Sylhet to get its own WASA: LGRD Minister
Sylhet WASA will be established soon to solve the problem of water and sewerage in Sylhet metropolis, said Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Md Tajul Islam.
The minister said, "There is a need to build environmentally friendly, sustainable and people-oriented drinking water supply and sanitary drainage systems for the people of the metropolis."
Sylhet is one of the most important cities in the country. Due to population and urbanisation, the dwellers need to be provided with much needed civic amenities, said the minister in a meeting on setting up of 'Water Supply and Sewerage Authority' (Sylhet WASA) in Sylhet City Corporation area as per 'Water Supply and Sewerage Authority 1996' organized virtually on Sunday.
Read:BGMEA urges LGRD Ministry to repair roads in industrial areas
Tajul Islam informed that necessary instructions have been given to the Ministries, Departments, Offices and Agencies concerned to take immediate action for issuing Gazette Notification, Organogram, Formulation of Employment Rules and other activities as initial steps for formation of Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Sylhet WASA) in Sylhet metropolis.
The Minister also expressed hope that it will be possible to establish Sylhet WASA very soon.
Stating his ministry is working tirelessly to protect the overall environment by adopting and implementing realistic sustainable projects for the development of drinking water supply management in urban and rural areas, he said the government has placed more emphasis on surface water use by reducing dependence on groundwater resources.
To this end, various steps have been taken to increase the use of river water in urban as well as rural areas, digging ponds, and using surface water through rainwater harvesting.
In this regard, he further said, in accordance with SDG, it has been assured to use 70% surface water by 2030. And Bangladesh will achieve the target before this time.
The LGRD minister said there are water problems in many countries of the world. "Being a riverine country, we have fewer problems with water than many other countries. Even after this capacity, we are working to ensure drinking water and a healthy sewerage system in remote areas of the country."
Mentioning that the country is moving forward under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said that unprecedented success has been achieved in the development of all sectors due to collective work not only in water but also in other sectors.
Read:Recovered city canals will end waterlogging and add beauty: LGRD Minister
Meanwhile, taking part in the meeting, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said the population of Sylhet has increased many times over. So it became urgent to establish a WASA there.
He thanked the LGRD Minister for taking the initiative to establish Sylhet WASA from this realization and assured all possible assistance for its speedy implementation.
The meeting was attended by Senior Secretary of LGRD ministry Helal Uddin Ahmed, Mayor of Sylhet City Corporation Ariful Haque Choudhury and senior officials of the ministry concerned.
BPL 2022: Sylhet bundled out for 96 vs Comilla
In their first match of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Saturday, Sylhet Sunrisers were bundled out for 96 against former champions Comilla Victorians at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
The Victorians won the toss and sent the Sunrisers to bat first. Inside the powerplay, Sunrisers lost only two wickets— Anamul Haque and Mohammad Mithun— both failed to reach a double-digit score.
The wicket was not ideal for the batters. It offered pace, swing, and spin altogether. But the Sunrisers batters were unable to show any resistance.
READ: T20 World Cup 2022: Bangladesh to Face India, Pakistan in the Super 12 Round
Colin Ingram was the highest runs getter for them scoring only 20 while their second-best runs came from extras.
For the Victorians, Nahidul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Shohidul Islam bagged two wickets each while left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam bowled four overs conceding only 10 runs and scalped a wicket.
On any other day, the Victorians would have suffered due to their bowling laced with indiscipline, but the lean display from Sunrisers’ batters might have saved them in this match.
Fisher dies after being hit by brick in Sylhet, 8 held
A man was killed after in a brick attack allegedly by dredging workers in Beanibazar upazila of Sylhet early Friday, police said.
The deceased was identified as Abdul Hasib, 40, son of Ismail Ali of Khasir Konapara village in Kurar Bazar union of Beanibazar upazila.
Read: 6 robbers held in Cox’s Bazar
Police arrested six dredger workers from the spot on suspicion of being involved in the incident, said Mehedi Hasan, inspector (investigation) of Beanibazar police station.
The arrestees are: Rashid Mia, 24, son of Kadir Mia of Polishwar area of Brahmanbaria, Monir Hossain, 24, son of Nurul Haque of Faizulpur area of Sunamganj district, Sirajul Islam, 35, son of Nurul Haque, Alam Mia, 25, son of Akter Mia, Russell Gazi, 20, son of Gias Gazi of Mordapara area of Kishoreganj, Monir Mia, 22, son of Chattar Mia, Tanvirul Islam, 20, son of Qutub Uddin and Kamal Hossain, 36, son of Rafiqul Islam of Ayubpur area of Narsingdi district.
Read:BSF hands over to BGB 2 students held in Hili border
Locals said, fisherman Abdul Hasib had an argument with dredger workers while fishing in Kushiyara river around 1 am. At one stage, Abdul Hasib fell into the water after being hit by the bricks of the dredger workers.
His body was searched overnight. However, police recovered the body on Friday morning.
The body was sent to Sylhet MAG Osmani Hospital for autopsy, said the inspector.
Sylhet: 7-yr-old gets entangled in swing rope, dies
In a freak accident, a seven-year old girl allegedly choked to death after the rope of a swing got entangled around her neck in Sylhet on Thursday afternoon.
Mayisha, daughter of school teacher Shahjahan Kabir of the district's Fenchuganj upazila, was playing with her sister at a park near their house in Mogolpur village when her neck accidentally got entangled in the rope of the swing she was riding on.
Also read: 2 children fall to death from an election campaign van
Hearing the screams of Mayisha's sister, their mother rushed to the park and took her to Upazila Health Complex, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.
Md Shafayet Hossain, officer-in-charge of Fenchuganj police station, said they were aware of the tragedy.
Also read: Two children drown in Faridpur pond
Rape case accused arrested in Sylhet
A fugitive accused in a rape case has been arrested from Sreepur Tea Garden in Sylhet after he took Indian citizenship to escape sentence.
The arrestee was identified as Sujit Nomo Biswas, son of late Projes Biswas of Vitrikhel Guchhogram village of Jaintapur Upazila.
Read: Main accused in a Chandpur rape case evades arrest; 3 held
Golam Dastagir, officer-in-charge (OC) of Jaintapur Police Station, said Sujit was a fugitive accused in the rape case. He was trying to escape sentence with Indian citizenship.
On Tuesday, Sujit entered Bangladesh through the Sreepur Tea Garden border point as he did frequently. On information, police arrested him after confirming his identity, the OC said.
Read: 5-yr-old girl raped in Dinajpur: Man gets life imprisonment
Sujit was brought before the court on Wednesday, Dastagir added.
A rape case was filed against Sujit at Jaintapur Police Station in June 18, 2020. He escaped to India about one and half years ago and took shelter at his sister’s place. He changed his name as Roni Roy taking Indian citizenship with his sister’s help, he added.
1 Bangladeshi injured in firing along Sylhet border
One Bangladeshi national was injured in a gunshot fired by an Indian national along the Kalairag border in Companiganj upazila in Sylhet on Friday.
READ: Border killings remain an irritant, FM Momen tells Shringla
Kalairag BGB camp commander Subedar Harunur Rashid said Sailen Kanda, 26, son of Dev Kanda of Kalairag village in the upazila was injured as an Indian national fired shots across the border at about 11 am on Friday from the Indian part of Kalairag 1253/3S pillar.
Rashid said Sailen was rescued and sent to Sylhet Osmani Hospital.READ: Deal with border killing as per international law: BNP
UP polls violence: One shot dead in Sylhet
A garage mechanic was shot dead during a clash between villagers and police centering Fulbari UP election in Golapganj upazila of Sylhet on Sunday night.
The deceased was identified as Abdus Salam, 50, a resident of Lakshmipasa union of the upazila.
According to locals, the supporters of independent chairman candidate Emran Hossain blocked Sylhet-Zakiganj road in Boitikar Bazar over the poll results of two centers in wards 8 and 9 in Fulbari Union at 8pm.
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A clash ensued between the villagers and police when police tried to disperse the supporters of Emran Hossain, forcing police to open fire, they said.
Abdus Salam, who suffered bullet injures during the clash, was taken to MAG Osmani Medical College and Hospital (SOMC) where doctors declared him dead.
In-charge of Osmani Medical College and Hospital police outpost SI Jonny Chowdhury said one was killed and five policemen were injured during the clash.
Abdus Salam had bullet wounds on his body, said SI Jonny Chowdhury.
The body was kept in SOMC morgue for an autopsy, he added.
Additional police have been deployed in the area after the clash, the SI said.
‘Journalist’ accused of embezzling over Tk 9 lakh in Sylhet
A businessman has raised an allegation against a man posing as a journalist of embezzling Tk 9.74 lakh in the name of ‘investment’ in an NGO.
The accused was identified as Abdul Awal Chowdhury Shipar, son of Abdul Malek Chowdhury of Kanaighat upazila of Sylhet.
Khasrul Islam Shamsul, a cloth trader of Rangmahal Tower in Bondorbazar, made the allegation at a press conference at Sylhet District Press Club on Tuesday.
Khasrul met Shipar while buying clothes six months ago. He introduced himself as a journalist.
READ: IDRA finds Delta Life Insurance Board’s involvement in embezzling Tk3,687 cr
According to the allegation, several days after his acquaintance with Khasrul, Shipar advised him to invest in various foreign NGOs.
At one point, he introduced himself as the managing director of ‘Disable Rehabilitation Endeavor and Movement’ - Dream, an NGO. Later, he took Khasrul to an office in Mirpur of the capital and introduced him to Lutful Haider Chowdhury, a resident of Shahidbagh area of Dhaka. At that time, Lutful Haider Chowdhury also advised him to invest in their NGO.
NGOs usually have donors, not investors. But Khasrul was none the wiser.
Following the advice, Khasrul handed over Tk 9.74 lakh to Shipar for investment in that NGO.
Shipar then cut off all communications. “And then I realized that Shipar and his associate had deceived me,” said Khasrul.
He alleged, “When I called Latful Haider Chowdhury after realizing that I had been deceived, he threatened me in various ways. Lastly, he also denied taking money from me.”
READ: 4 arrested for embezzling Tk 2.57 crore from DBBL, ringleader remains at large
Khasrul Islam said they have deceived many people in this way. Shipar used to work as an agent for Lutful Haider Chowdhury.
Khairul also sought the law enforcers’ cooperation to get back his money from the deceivers.
Is Bangladesh's dry food industry climate resilient? Sylhet scientists are finding that out
Scientists at the coveted Sylhet Agricultural University (SAU) have embarked on a research to analyse the value chain system in dry fish production as well as the impact of climate change on the industry as a whole.
A team, led by Arif Billah, a postgraduate student of the SAU's fisheries technology and quality control department, has started the research under the National Science and Technology Fellowship Bangladesh.
READ: Dublar Char comes alive as Sutki fish season gets underway
"The impact of climate change on the production of dry fish and the future challenges will be the main focus of our research in the Sundarbans. This is because Katka in the southwest and Hiron point in the southeast are both disaster-prone areas," Arif told UNB.
Prof Motahar Hosain of the department will supervise the research.
“Every year, fishermen go to Dublar Char to catch fish by putting their lives at risk during the dry fish processing season. Our main motive is to find out the impact of climate change on the industry and its challenges. Besides, we also want to do research on the quality of the dried fish processing in Dublar Char to begin with,” he said.
35-yr-old biker killed in Sylhet road crash
A 35-year-old man was killed and another injured when a truck hit their bike in Dakshin Surma upazila of Sylhet on Thursday night, police said.
The deceased was identified as Nurul Boksh, son of Akmol Boksh from Tillapara area of the upazila.
Also read: Wear quality helmets while on the streets, IGP tells motorbikers
The accident occurred around 10pm on a busy road near a fuel outlet in the Alinagar area of the upazila. Both the men on the bike sustained severe injuries in the crash.
"Nurul died on the way to hospital, while Sahel Boksh, 23, is currently being treated at North East Hospital," said Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, sub-inspector at Dakshin Surma police station.
Also read: Biker killed, pillion rider injured in Dhaka road accident