Sohrab Hossain

Although watermelon cultivation has surpassed the target and farmers are celebrating a bumper yield this season, prices remain three times higher in major cities than at farm-level rates in Barishal—one of the largest watermelon-producing hubs in Bangladesh.

The only government-run fish hatchery in Barguna, located in Amtali upazila, has been closed for nearly 20 years.

The construction of the Rangabali Upazila Health Complex in Patuakhali has been halted for the last eight months.

Within the last eight months, at least 10 iron bridges over different canals in Haldia and Chawra unions under Barguna’s Amtali upazila have collapsed, causing immense suffering to around 65,000 residents.

Patuakhali’s watermelon growers are witnessing a bumper harvest this year, with buyers rushing to purchase the fruit directly from the fields.

Ketab Ali Howlader, 72, a day-labourer from Sreerampur union in Patuakhali’s Dumki upazila, found himself in a legal battle when his niece Helena Begum who forcibly occupied seven decimals of his land and built three tin-shed houses on it.

At least 242 iron bridges across eight upazilas in Patuakhali are in a dilapidated state and require urgent repairs or reconstruction to ensure safe and uninterrupted commutes for residents.

Secretary to the Chief Adviser’s Office says after visiting the EPZ

The construction of a bridge over the Ghazalia canal in Patuakhali’s Galachipa upazila has remained halted for the past two years, causing significant inconvenience to locals.

The Tengragiri Ecopark, located in the reserve forest area of Barguna’s Taltali upazila, is deteriorating due to a lack of maintenance and renovation.

The Payra 1,320MW Thermal Power Plant in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali has resumed full production following a roughly two-month halt for maintenance works on its second unit and test runs of a neighbouring facility..Upon completing maintenance works, which began on November 9 last year,

Five bailey bridges connecting the 11-kilometre-long Patuakhali-Mirzaganj road are in a rundown state due to lack of renovations for years.

A 10-bed kidney dialysis centre at Patuakhali Medical College Hospital remains non-operational, despite its construction being completed in June 2024. The centre’s delayed opening has forced local kidney patients to travel out of the district for treatment, causing immense financial strain.

Farmers in Patuakhali have started mustard cultivation using the “relay system” (without tilling).

The villagers used the canal's water for irrigating their croplands, and for numerous domestic purposes. It also served as a waterway connecting different areas in the upazila

Once a vibrant waterbody crisscrossing through Barguna’s Amtali town, the century-old Basugi canal is now on its deathbed due to rampant encroachment and pollution.

On November 17 last year, as Cyclone Midhili crossed the coast of Bangladesh, 25 fishermen from Patuakhali’s Rangabali upazila, who were in three trawlers in the Bay of Bengal, went missing.

A tributary of Rabanabad river merges with the Andharmanik river to form an estuary in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali before the rivers descend to the Bay of Bengal.

Saidul Islam, a 25-year-old from Dashmina upazila in Patuakhali, once dreamed of building a stable life for his family. But the light of that dream has been extinguished -- both figuratively and literally.

Just six months after Tk 6,500 crore was spent on capital dredging, Payra Port’s Rabnabad channel has lost much of its navigability, pushing up coal transport costs for the power plants in the area.