Tuesday, April 29th, 2008The depression in the southwest and adjoining southeast parts of the Bay of Bengal has turned into a cyclonic storm and may cross the Bangladesh coast after four to five days.Met Office has advised farmers in a special weather bulletin, to take measures for early harvest of the Boro paddy, if possible, before Cyclone Nargis hits.The cyclone remains almost stationary 1210 km off Cox's Bazar coast, 1280 km away from Chittagong and 1200 km away from Mongla, according to Met Office at 6:00pm yesterday.Nargis is the first cyclonic storm in the Bay since the deadly Sidr in November ...
(read more) Wednesday, June 13th, 2007Large chunks of earth and mud, sliding of a soaked hill that had been cut earlier for a now abandoned government housing project, buried some 100 houses fully or partially at Kalatali in Cox's Bazar town in the last 48 hours. Several hundred people of the area were forced to leave their houses following the mudslide triggered by the onrush of rainwater flowing down the hill, which had been continuing.The district administration had recently levelled hills on 51 acres of land by bulldozer for making houses for the officials of deputy commissioner's (DC) office ignoring the protest from the environmentalists. ...
(read more) Sunday, May 20th, 2007Fund shortage at the country's lone safari park at Dulahazra of Chakoria in Cox's Bazar has been affecting food supply for wild animals as around 250 more animals were added to the park since January this year. After the present government took over in January, joint forces rescued most of these new residents of the park during their drives at houses and establishments owned by graft suspects. Many individuals also 'donated' some of the animals to the park during this period.Before the recent influx of rescued or donated animals that include two elephants, Dulahazra Park was already home to 4,000 ...
(read more) Wednesday, February 28th, 2007Forest department officials rescued a saltwater crocodile from the pond of Hoseni Dalan at the city's Bakshibazar yesterday.Somebody might have possessed it illegally and set it free in the pond sometime in the previous night fearing arrest during the state of emergency, locals and wildlife experts suspect.Saltwater crocodiles are an endangered species and only a few hundred could be found in the Sundarbans.Locals discovered the reptile on the steps leading to the pond in the morning. The exciting news soon spread and hundreds of people thronged the spot to have a look at the creature, a sub adult female. ...
(read more) Sunday, February 25th, 2007The joint forces and local administration yesterday recovered 1,486 acres of forestland from 15 land grabbers and demolished many illegal structures in Sonadia island in the district. They made the recovery during a five-hour drive that began at 10:00am.The illegal occupants were using those lands for more than five years for shrimp and salt farming, clearing mangrove forests, local forest department officials said.Illegal occupation of government land and indiscriminate destruction of forests have become an order of the day in Cox's Bazar coastal areas, mainly for shrimp cultivation, they mentioned.Many more forestlands in Sadar and Moheshkhali upazilas of the ...
(read more) Friday, January 5th, 2007The cold wave blowing across most part of the country killed at least 24 people in 24 hours till 6:00pm yesterday, raising the last three days' death toll to 41, most of whom are from worst-hit northern region.The current spell of mild cold wave with thick envelop of fog that has already paralysed the normal life might continue for two more days, the met office said.At least 10 people have died in cold wave in Thakurgaon, Nilphamari and Sherpur districts where the mercury dips to 5 degree Celsius at night, reports UNB. Scores of people suffering from viral fever, ...
(read more) Thursday, September 21st, 2006At least 25 people, including a naval officer, were killed while some 2,000 fishermen went missing as around 500 trawlers, boats and a navy patrol ship capsized in the Bay when a violent storm hit the country's coastal belt Tuesday evening. According to the officials, the fishing trawlers sank in Dublar Char, Kachikhali, Narkelbaria and Baleshwar of the coastal districts of Bagerhat, Pirojpur, Barisal, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola as they were caught in the sudden storm.Of the dead, the body of a youth was found at Bishkhali of Laldia area in Patharghata, bodies of four fishermen were recovered at the Kuakata ...
(read more) Saturday, September 2nd, 2006The Chittagong Coastal Forest Department has published a list of 28 land grabbers featuring some local union parishad (UP) chairmen and political leaders, and sought the administration's intervention in its drive to recover the public lands and forests.Paraban, a manmade forest along the offshore areas of Kutubjom, Baro Moheshkhali and Ghatibhanga, is among the forestland grabbed.Shahidullah, Baro Moheshkhali UP chairman and brother of local ruling party lawmaker Alamgir Mohammad Mahfuz Ullah Farid, Anwar Pasha Chowdhury, president of Moheshkhali upazila AL, and Sharif Badsha, former UP chairman of Baro Moheshkhali, among others, figure in the list that came out on August ...
(read more) Saturday, August 26th, 2006Around 20 thousand Rohingya refugees have been included in the updated voter list in six upazilas of Cox's Bazar while thousands of eligible voters left out for allegiance to the opposition parties, locals and different political parties alleged. The district election officials recently admitted to The Daily Star that a large number of Rohingyas might have been enrolled as voters.Additional Election Officer SM Shahadat Hosain said they are verifying the list and have already excluded many such names from it.Shoaibur Rahman, joint secretary of Relief and Refugee Repatriation Commission, also did not rule out the possibility of many ...
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