Mostafa Yousuf

The family of the youth who died in gunfight between supporters of two councillor candidates alleged that the miscreants used police’s firearms to shoot the victim.

One fine morning in 2015, fisherman Mohon Jolodas woke up to the roar of dump trucks close to his home, adjacent to Kohelia river in Matarbari union of Moheshkhali.

Loggers have been wiping out hundreds of acres of forest in Hathazari upazila of Chattogram, within a three-kilometre radius of the Forest Department office. The felled logs are then smuggled through the department’s checkpoints, largely without any obstruction.

After 2020 saw several worker’s death in multiple shipbreaking yards in Sitakunda upazila, a Ministry of Industry letter has put the blame on yard owners’ apathy in ensuring a safe workplace for their employees.

A local lawmaker has put forward a proposal to change the status of nearly 600 acres of reserve forest and wildlife sanctuary in Cox’s Bazar into khas land for leasing it out to the people living there.

In 2018, aged just 43, Mazidul Haque developed severe breathing problems, consulted a doctor and was diagnosed with asbestosis, a potentially fatal respiratory disease which scars the lungs. After more than a decade working in the shipbreaking yards of Chattogram, he lost his job, and the means to support his family.

At the end of 2019, Belal Uddin (18), came to Sitakunda from Kurigram in search of work. With a three-member family to feed back home, he was desperate to make ends meet. Soon, he started life as a novice shipbreaking worker at a yard at a daily wage of Tk 220 for an eight-hour day.

No one is too young to make a difference. This statement gets passed around a lot, but seldom do we come across someone who live their life as a genuine example of it.

A proposed project of Chattogram Wasa set to withdraw 14 crore litres of water from the Halda river daily for an economic zone poses serious threat to the unique water body, the lone breeding ground for natural spawning of carp fish in South Asia.

Hefajat chief Junaid Babunagari yesterday threatened to pull down and destroy all the sculptures no matter which party puts those up.

The land acquisition office of Cox’s Bazar acquired 1.171 acres of disputed land from the wife and brother-in-law of the municipality mayor at Tk 36 crore for a project in violation of multiple acquisition and property transfer laws.

Shortly before this story went to print last night, missing journalist Golam Sarwar was found unconscious beside a canal at Sitakunda’s Kumira.

The freshwater dolphins in Bangladesh are only decreasing in number over the last few years mainly for manmade hazards, say experts.

The village is named after its highest hill, Rangapahar, but the natural landmark no longer exists.

Most of the trash that washed ashore on Cox’s Bazar beach in July, causing uproar among environment activists and conservationists, came from the fishing community. A probe body formed the same month came up with the findings recently after analysing the waste, visiting the spots, and talking to fishermen, locals and experts.

Sanmar Properties Limited, one of the top real estate companies in the country, has been razing greenery along with hills nearby Bangladesh Forest Research Institute in Chattogram city’s Sholoshahar area for a twin multistory apartment block project.

Four years of illegal sand lifting and forest razing have turned what was once a dense forest in Chakaria, Cox’s Bazar, into what now appears to be a lake.

Coal-based power plants being constructed in Cox’s Bazar could be responsible for 30,000 deaths over 30 years. The plants will be releasing hazardous elements, emitting pollutants 800 percent higher than the international average.

Freedom fighters in Chattogram’s Banshkhali upazila have come under several attacks in recent times after they protested the authorities’ failure to give a guard of honour to one of their fellow freedom fighters before his burial in late July.

Asian Paper Mill, which last year was found to be a major factory responsible for polluting the Halda River, possibly the lone natural breeding ground of carp fish in South Asia, is accelerating its efforts to resume operations.