United News of Bangladesh

Flash floods triggered by onrush of water from the upstream inundated Boro crops on 5,000 hectares of land in 14  haors in Sunamganj, causing loss of Tk 100 crore, according to  local agricultural office. Meanwhile, local farmers claimed some 20,000 hectares of land have been inundated until Friday evening. According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), farmers yield six MTs of paddy from per hectare of land. Read: Flash floods in Boro-producing areas bodes ill for days ahead As per the DAE estimate, 1.20 lakh MTs of paddy worth Tk 300 crore could have been produced from the land that went under water, claimed local farmers. Haor is a wetland ecosystem in the north eastern part of Bangladesh which physically is a bowl or saucer shaped shallow depression, also known as a back swamp. During monsoon haors get filled with surface runoff water becoming vast stretches of turbulent water. According to local DAE office, Boro paddy has been cultivated on 2.22 lakh hectares of land in the district this year and the production target has been set at 13.50 lakh MTs. In a recent visit, the UNB correspondent found local people working day and night voluntarily to protect the local dams. Rain has reduced in haor area but water level in rivers is rising in some upazilas including Dirai-Shalla of Sunamganj. On April 2, crops of Tanguar haor went under water at first after the Najarkhali dam collapsed. Since then eight dams collapsed one by one and cracks have been developed in all small and bid dams due to the pressure of upstream water. Read: Flash flood inundate low-lying areas in Kurigram, Shepur and Sirajganj On Friday water started flooding Eraliakona Haor in Tahirpur. Locals said five haors including Chandra Sonartal Haor in Dharmapasha, Tangni Haor in Dirai Upazila and Chapati Haor went under water after collapse of dams. Bimal Chandra Som, Deputy Director of Sunamganj DAE said water is entering the haors through broken dams and overflowing those in some places. “The showers have reduced in the last two days. If no more rain occurs there will be no major damage,” he assured.      

The death toll from the ferry capsize in the Gazaria river of Barishal rose to four, with the recovery of the body of a four-year-old boy on Saturday. While a mother-daughter duo drowned, the boy and two others went missing after their ferry capsized in the river off the coast of Mehendiganj upazila on Friday morning. The deceased boy was identified as Ruhan Hawlader, son of Muntaj Hawlader of the Majhirchar area in the upazila.  Also read: Two drown, 3 missing as ferry sinks off Barishal coast “Local fishermen spotted the body, some six to seven kilometres from the accident spot, around 12pm and informed us. On information, police rushed to the spot,” said Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Mehendiganj Police Station. Efforts are on to find the two others missing in the ferry tragedy, he added. Local lawmaker Pankaj Debnath visited the spot and assured the families of the victims of all cooperation. Also read: Fish trader found dead in Barishal hotel

Born to a family of a poor van driver in Thakurgaon, Alpana faced difficult times growing up. Braving all odds though, she managed to crack this year's MBBS admission test. But the teenager's struggles are unlikely to end soon as her father, Aftabar Rahman, has expressed his inability to fund her medical education -- literally a luxury for even the middle-class in Bangladesh. "I want to pursue my dream without putting any pressure on my father, who's struggling to make both ends meet. Already, he has done a lot for me and my three siblings," Alpana, a resident of Dharia Belsara village in Baliadangi upazila, told UNB. Also read: Khulna’s Meem tops them all in MBBS admission test

A 38-year-old man and his five-year-old son were killed while three others sustained injuries when a lorry hit a cycle rickshaw carrying them to a shopping plaza in the port city on Saturday. The deceased were identified as Abu Saleh and his son Abdul Momin of the Bandartila area of Chattogram's Patenga. The three injured -- Saleh's wife, their second child and the rickshaw puller, have been hospitalised. Nurul Huda, officer-in-charge of Chattogram Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) police station, said the accident occurred around 11am near Bandartila Shah Plaza Market. READ: Two killed, 6 injured in Tangail road accident "The lorry hit the rickshaw carrying Saleh, his wife and their two children to Bay Shopping Centre inside CEPZ from the Patenga Steel Mill area, leaving the two dead on the spot," he said. Following the accident, locals vandalised the lorry, triggering a major traffic snarl in the area. The locals dispersed after being pacified by cops.

A 35-year-old man was killed and two others were injured in a clash between two rival groups in Charghat upazila of Rajshahi over the formation of a mosque committee on Friday, police said. The deceased was identified as Khokan Ali, son of Mozahar Ali of Zutkartik village in the upazila. The two injured, Mozahar Ali and Sirajul Islam, have been given primary treatment at the upazila health complex. Police on Saturday claimed to have detained 17 people in connection with the clash. Cops and eye-witnesses said that the two groups, one led by Kamruzzaman alias Mukul, and another by Muktar Ali, had a longstanding dispute over the formation of a committee of the village mosque and replacing its president. READ: 2 farmers arrested for load shedding protest in Rajshahi During the mugrib prayer, an altercation broke out over the matter between the two groups that resulted in the clash, leaving Khokan Ali (nephew of Muktar Ali) critically wounded. He was rushed to Charghat upazila health complex where doctors declared him dead on arrival. “Being informed, police rushed to the spot and detained 17 people,” said Jahangir Alam, officer-in-charge of Charghat Model Police Station. The body was sent to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital morgue for an autopsy, he added. 

A 32-year-old man was found dead under mysterious circumstances inside a bus parked in front of the deputy commissioner’s office in Laxmipur district early on Saturday. The deceased was identified as Riad Hossain Liton, son of Dudu Mia of Sadar upazila, who worked as a supervisor with the transport firm operating the bus. Jashim Uddin, officer-in-charge of Laxmipur Police Station, said the bus reached Laxmipur around 10pm on Friday. "Later, Nahid, the driver, parked it in front of the deputy commissioner’s office in the district town and left," the OC said. READ: 4 get life term for killing three-wheeler driver in Khulna "Liton and a helper were supposed to spend the night on the bus. But around 4am, Nahid returned to the bus and found Liton lying in a pool of blood," the OC said. On information, police recovered the body and arrested Nahid for interrogation. "The helper of the bus is missing," the OC said.

Following long-running domestic disputes, a 32-year-old man was allegedly hacked to death by his 23-year-old wife in their house at a Rohingya camp in Teknaf, Cox's Bazar Friday. Md Saidur Rahman is the deceased and police detained his wife Sanjida Begum after the incident at the Block C2 of Camp 22 in Chakmarkul, said Superintendent of Police Mohammad Tariqul Islam, commander of APBn-16. The couple had marital problems for a long time and would often get into squabbles, he added citing the locals. As Saidur fell asleep Friday evening, Sanjida took a machete and hacked him mercilessly. The incident came to light when neighbours came to their house hearing Saidur scream. They chased down Sanjida and caught her as she tried to run away. "On information, police went to the crime scene, and the locals handed over Sanjida to us. Saidur was declared dead after being taken to a local clinic in the Rohingya camp," Tariqul said. "However, a detailed interrogation is on, and we are awaiting the autopsy report. More details are yet to be received." 

Boro crops on 100 acres land of Tanguar haor area in Tahirpur upazila of Sunamganj district went under water as the embankment collapsed due to the onrush of hill water on Friday. The farmers of the haor area became helpless when the Erailla Kona Mondiyata dam in the upazila collapsed. Confirming the matter, Tahirpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Raihan Kabir said the dam that collapsed in Tanguar Haor was not established by the Water Development Board. In the last one week, nine dams in Tahirpur, Dharmapasha, Shalla and Dirai upazilas of the district have collapsed and thousands of hectares of boro crops have gone under water. Farmers in the haor area in Sunamganj are living in fear that they may be deprived of their boro paddy’s harvest. On April 1, the Nazarkhali dam in Tahirpur collapsed, inundating 120 hectares of boro crops. Then eight more dams collapsed one by one. Besides, cracks have been developed in all the small and big dams in the haor area of the district. Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Deputy Minister for Water Resources AKM Enamul Haque Shameem paid a visit to the affected areas in Derai upazila in Sunamganj where haor embankments got damaged due to onrush water. During the visit, he said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed the authorities concerned to take permanent projects to protect the haors. Various projects are underway across the country to protect river erosion and new projects are being undertaken. Besides, permanent dams are being constructed across the country after identifying the river erosion-prone areas, he said. Those affected by the collapse of these dams in this haor area are being assisted by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, he added.

Ninety-five per cent of the target population has been vaccinated against Covid-19 in the country, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Friday. So far, 25 crore vaccine doses have been administered, said the minister at an Iftar mahfil organised by Manikganj district police. As per the population of the country, more than 75 percent of the people have been vaccinated against Covid-19, he added. The number of Covid infections is declining as around 40-50 or 60 cases are being reported with no death every day across the country, said the minister. “The economy is booming as the Covid situation in the country is under control.” Zahid Maleque also urged those who have not got jabbed with the booster dose yet to take the jab.

Farmers in the sandbar areas of Kurigram have started harvesting Boro paddy before the season as the water levels of the Teesta, Dharla and Brahmaputra rivers have been increasing due to continuous rains and downpours over the last few days. Farmers in the sandbars on around 16 rivers’ basin were seen harvesting paddy on Friday morning before it matures to minimise their losses. But the water level in the rivers was still far below the danger level. Also read:Flash floods in Boro-producing areas bodes ill for days ahead Many farmers said that their dream of harvesting Boro paddy as expected was being dashed due to heavy rains. They are also worried about getting paddy straw due to the sudden rise in river water. According to the Kurigram Agriculture Extension Department, Boro has been planted on 1,200 hectares of land on the sandbars of the river. However, in a few days, the farmers will be able to harvest this paddy.