Two service centres of Chattogram Metropolitan Police in the port city have remained closed for months following poor response from service seekers.

“I don’t have to waste hours in traffic anymore thanks to the newly-constructed Bakalia Access Road,” said Sajeda Akter, a school teacher, who used to get late for work regularly due to gridlock at Kotwali intersection while travelling from Chattogram’s Karnaphuli upazila to the city’s Chawkbazar.

To save the Karnaphuli from encroachers, the Chattogram City Corporation and district administration have jointly initiated a project to build a park on the river bank in the port city’s Firingi Bazar area.

A home to around two lakh people, South Pahartali area under ward-1 within Chattogram City Corporation is grappling with a severe lack of civic amenities.

For the last three years, Enamul Haque, a resident of Halishahar’s Chowdhury Para in the port city, has been suffering from waterlogging.

The doors and windows of Borhan Uddin’s rented apartment, located in the port city’s Ruby Gate area, have to remain closed most of the time to prevent toxic gases emitted from Saleh Steel Industries Limited from entering the place.

On January 30, 2020, Chattogram City Corporation inaugurated the port city’s first escalator footbridge, only to shut down its operations indefinitely after the next couple of months following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Tulatoli area under Chattogram’s Sitakunda used to boast a lush green forest, home to numerous trees.

“I grew up listening to my grandfather’s stories of how tigers ascended down these hills. He even saw one himself while one of his friends even tried to hunt one once using a trap, but failed. It was their reality, but for us and our following generations, it’s only a myth,” said 80-year-old Saleh Ahmed sipping tea at a small stall in the port city’s Tiger Pass area.

There was a time when movie theatres used to multiply Eid joys for most “Chatgaiya” families.

“I thank God for letting me see my son’s body for the last time,” Ali Kawsar, the father of a 12-year old boy, told reporters with  tear-stained eyes, soon after the body of his son Kamal was recovered  from Mirza Khal in Chattogram’s Muradpur area in December 2021, around 68 hours after he fell into a drain on December 7.

Abdullah, a rickshaw-puller, was waiting in front of a blacksmith’s shop at Halishahar on Sunday.

In terms of festivities, Eid-ul-Azha has always had a special place in homemaker Shamsun Nahar’s heart, a resident of South Pahartali under Chattogram’s Hathazari upazila.

Abul Hossain, a resident of the port city’s Hamzarbagh area, bought a cow from the Sagarika cattle market for Tk 1.30 lakh. The trader Abdul Hannan received the full amount from the digital transaction booth of city corporation sitting in the market.

From the eighties till the 2000s, Rabeya Begum, a home-maker from Chattogram’s Hathazari upazila had no refrigerators at their house. So whenever Eid-ul-Azha came around, she had to opt for a unique technique to preserve the meat -- by making Qhwab.

From the infectious enthusiasm in the air to the meticulously prepared delicacies and vibrant gatherings, the Chatgaiya way of celebrating Eid-ul-Azha showcases a fusion of prosperity, religious devotion, and cultural heritage.

A vested quarter has been accused of cutting hills in Chattogram’s Dharmapur union of Fatikchhari upazila, to construct a chicken shed.

Chattogram rawhide traders want bank loans on easy terms to recover loses after the area’s 50 percent of tanneries have been closed due to the absence of a competitive market in the port city.

Pedestrians are forced to cross the wide intersection of Sholashahar Gate-2 putting their lives at risk in the absence of a foot-over bridge.

For the first time, two double-decker bus services have been introduced in Chattogram city for tourists. The buses, operational since last Saturday, is set to ply the port city’s Tiger Pass-Faujdarhat DC Park-Patenga sea beach route.