Mintu Deshwara

For two long years, an eerie quiet hung over the schoolyard of Bawani Tea Garden Primary School in Habiganj’s Nabiganj upazila. The bell that once rang every morning had gathered rust.

Various food stalls and gift shops have been operating inside Lawachhara National Park in Moulvibazar for the past 11 years, posing a serious threat to its fragile ecosystem and biodiversity.

A 1.5-kilometre stretch of Kalenga Road in Habiganj’s Chunarughat upazila has fallen into such disrepair that locals say it is barely recognisable as a road.

Coffee cultivation in Moulvibazar is showing renewed promise after making a gradual comeback through government initiatives and growing interest among farmers.

In the heart of a festive neighbourhood, where drums beat and lights glitter for Durga Puja, one home remains eerily quiet.

Poor drainage, waste mismanagement and an acute shortage of doctors and staff have left Kamalganj Upazila Health Complex in Moulvibazar largely dysfunctional.

Illegal sand mining continues unabated across several upazilas in Moulvibazar, despite a series of raids and jail sentences.

Thousands of low-income passengers and small-scale traders in the Sylhet region are suffering from a prolonged disruption in three local train services along the Sylhet-Akhaura railway route, with only one train in operation.

In the hills of Akbarpur, a green revolution is taking root -- not driven by large corporations, but by the vision and hard work of one man.

At least a 10-kilometre stretch from Jagdishpur to Shahjibazar in Madhabpur upazila of Habiganj has become virtually impassable due to prolonged neglect and lack of maintenance, causing immense suffering for thousands of residents.

Permanent and temporary markets continue to spring up illegally along the Dhaka-Sylhet highway, in clear violation of the law. These unauthorised structures are causing severe traffic congestion, particularly due to the presence of small vehicles, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, and goods carriers that frequent the areas.

The echoes of children playing have long fallen silent at Suaboi Government Primary School in Madhabpur upazila of Habiganj, where stagnant water has gripped the premises for nearly six months.

With the only wooden bridge in the area -- their only means of travel to nearby markets, schools, and health facilities -- washed away by recent torrential rains, residents of Maijgaon in the Ranigaon Union of Chunarughat upazila in Habiganj are now relying on a makeshift banana raft to cross the river.

The 50-bed Shayestaganj Upazila Health Complex in Habiganj has remained non-operational for the past eight years due to unresolved land acquisition complications, leaving more than 1.5 lakh residents without access to essential healthcare services.

The Rajnagar Upazila Health Complex in Moulvibazar has long been grappling with severe disruption to its services due to an acute shortage of doctors and technical staff.

Even before dawn breaks in mid-summer, the Brahmanbazar wholesale market in Kulaura upazila bursts into life. Buyers and sellers crowd the area, haggling over the price of ripe jackfruit, their sweet aroma filling the air.

At least 10 to 12 age-old teak trees have been illegally felled and stolen in recent weeks from Section 16 of Satchari National Park, a protected forest in Chunarughat upazila of Habiganj -- raising serious concerns over forest management and surveillance failures.

Amir Hossain Siraj, a nursery business owner by profession and a bamboo craftsman by passion, began crafting bamboo décor for village weddings back in 2003 as a hobby.

A seven-kilometre stretch of road connecting Prithimpasha and Karmadha unions in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar has long been in a dilapidated state following years of neglect and lack of maintenance by the authorities concerned.

At least 10 endangered primates, including seven Phayre’s Langurs (Trachypithecus phayrei) and three Spectacled Langurs (Semnopithecus entellus), have died of electrocution since May 2024 in Moulvibazar’s Juri and Barlekha ranges, raising serious concerns among conservationists.