Muntakim Saad

As Eid draws nearer, people desperate to go back to their home districts have continued to leave Dhaka despite all difficulties and while ignoring the restrictions the government imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.

People are heading home for Eid in droves.

Heavy traffic returned to the streets of the capital after operation of public buses resumed within districts yesterday following over three weeks of suspension.

The sudden halt to oxygen import from India amid the second Covid-19 wave may put Bangladesh in a precarious position if the current coronavirus situation deteriorates, fear health officials and suppliers.

As the government allowed shops and shopping malls to reopen their doors for shoppers amid the “lockdown”, a significant rise in public and vehicular movement was seen on the roads yesterday, with heavy traffic congestion in some areas of the capital.

Just a day after announcement of relaxation in restrictions, a “normal Dhaka life” has almost resumed with the increasing public and vehicular movement on the streets.

Although yesterday was Friday, and almost all the government and private offices were closed, a significant number of people were seen on the streets and kitchen markets in the capital.

If one goes out in the streets of Dhaka, they might mistake the ongoing “strict lockdown” for a public transportation strike -- after all, all sorts of vehicles are plying the streets, save for buses. At some points of the city, there was enough congestion of vehicles and people to cause traffic jams.

Supply of medical oxygen to public hospitals is under strain as the demand for the life-sustaining gas has doubled over the last few weeks, posing new challenges in the battle against the second wave of the coronavirus infections.

As the “lockdown” was extended for seven more days from April 22 to 28, labourers living from hand to mouth feared the distresses that lay ahead.

Despite an alarming surge in Covid-19 deaths, people continued to defy restrictions on movement as a higher number of people and vehicles were

Before the first phase of restrictions following the surge of Covid-19 cases, Md Bablu (23) used to drive buses in the port city. He came to the

In most restaurants of Companiganj’s Basurhat, an instruction is clearly written on the walls: “Conversations over politics are strictly prohibited.”

Two lives have been cut short, caught in the crossfire of gunfights between the two groups of the ruling Awami League in Noakhali’s Companiganj in recent weeks.

Hours after Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday warned of action against people involved in the deadly clashes in Noakhali’s Companiganj, men in plainclothes picked up Mizanur Rahman Badal, the rival of Obaidul’s brother Quader Mirza.

A man, who was killed in an alleged gunfight with Rab-10 in Dhaka’s Keraniganj on Friday, was the driver of a truck that ran over and killed a Rab member in Mymensingh’s Bhaluka on February 14.

If Dhaka were to recover 80 percent of recyclable and organic material in its waste stream, the city could create over 6,000 new jobs, found a study of Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).

Another year of hopelessness passes for the families of journalist-couple Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Runi. Nine years on, justice still remains a far cry.

Three months ago, a devastating fire raged through a portion of Kalyanpur slum, killing a young man and injuring several others. The investigation by fire service officials found faulty electric connections behind it.

Investigation into the death of Senior ASP Anisul Karim at Mind Aid Psychiatry and De-Addiction Hospital has progressed well, and police will submit the charge-sheet soon, according to law enforcers.