Lalmonirhat
Police find Tk 66 lakh in cash in abandoned bag in Lalmonirhat
Police were called in after a sack was found abandoned under a bridge near Jailkhana Road of Lalmonirhat district town Wednesday night. Inside, cops found Tk 66 lakh in cash.
Cops said that some locals had spotted the sack and informed them. A team from the local police station rushed to the spot and seized the cash.
Read: Abandoned newborn rescued by police after man calls 999
“All the notes were wet and each of the 66 bundles contained 100 notes,” said Shah Alam, officer-in-charge of the Lalmonirhat police station. "The currency notes could be counterfeit," he added.
Rising Teesta: Flash floods snap Lalmonirhat-Rangpur road link
Road communication between Lalmonirhat and Rangpur remained suspended Thursday due to the collapse of Kakina-Rangpur Road in Kaliganj upazila collapsed in flash floods.
Local people said the water of the Teesta entered into Rudreshor village as the river was flowing 60 cm above the danger level at Dalia point on Wednesday.
Read: Red alert issued as Teesta flows 60 cm above danger level
Due to the excessive pressure of the river water, Kakina-Rangpur Road caved in, disrupting road communication between Rangpur and Lalmonirhat districts.
The Bangladesh Army has been pressed into action to evacuate stranded people from the affected areas, officials said.
Shahidul Haque Shaheed, chairman of Kakina Union Parishad, said 3,000 people have been stranded due to the flash floods and the main road connecting the two districts has caved in.
Rashedin Islam, executive engineer of the Water Development Board, said the Teesta river is flowing 70 cm above its danger level from Wednesday night.
Read: Teesta flowing above danger level, all 44 barrage gates opened
The Water Development Board (WDB) has issued a red alert in the Teesta Basin after the river swelled above the danger level due to the onrush of hill water and heavy rainfall upstream in India.
Authorities in Bangladesh ordered evacuation of the people living in villages along the river’s banks.
Burimari port to remain shut for 5 days for Durga puja
The export and import activities through Burimari land port in Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat district will remain suspended for five days from October 12 (Tuesday) for Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindus.
Assistant commissioner of Burimari Land port customs, Mohamamd Kefayet Ullah Majumdar, said the trade activities between the two neighbouring countries will remain suspended for five days from Tuesday.
Read: Trade through Burimari land port to remain suspended for 6 days
However, the movement of passport-holder travellers through the check-post will continue as usual, said Anwar Hossain, in-charge of Burimari immigration police.
In Shoulmari, lives tangle in barbed-wire fence
A barbed wire strung up by a private solar power company around the only road leading to Shoulmari char in Lalmonirhat has proved to be the bane of the residents of the riverine island.
The residents of the char on the Teesta river say the man-made obstacle has made their lives miserable. Their repeated requests to the authorities for getting the barbed wire removed have only fallen on deaf ears.
Read: Bangladeshi men stray into India, thrashed
And for the school-goers and their teachers, it's a daily struggle. They are forced to cross under the barbed-wire fence to walk to their schools -- Shoulmari and Kalikapur primary schools are the nearest.
"Walking to school is virtually a daily battle for both teachers and students," says Eti Moni, an assistant teacher at Shoulmari Government Primary School.
"The private solar power company has closed the road by putting up the barbed-wire fence, ignoring the fact that it's the only stretch connecting our char on the Teesta with other parts of the upazila," she adds.
The residents of the char say they have to bend down to cross the barbed-wire fence and often their clothes get stuck to it.
Saniur Rahman Suny, another teacher, says that they have no option but to use the road as it's kind of a short cut to the school. "Else we would have to take a 1.5km detour. Life is literally a challenge for us."
Other residents of the char narrate a similar tale of woes and they now urge Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to put an end to their plight.
"The only road leading to the char is closed. We've written letters to multiple authorities and different ministries in Dhaka but got no response. We now want PM Sheikh Hasina's intervention," says Sekandar Ali.
Farmer stabbed dead in Lalmonirhat
A 42-year-old farmer was stabbed to death by some miscreants at Teesta barrage Doani in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat district on Sunday night.
The deceased was identified as Abdul Malek, son of Abdul Barek of Doani area of Goddimari Union.
Read: Teenager stabbed to death in the capital
Police said some unidentified miscreants attacked Malek and stabbed him mercilessly when he was sitting alone in front of the house at night, leaving him dead on the spot.
Lalmonirhat Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police (B-Circle) Tapash Sarkar said police is interrogating the deceased’s family to find motive behind the murder.
Lalmonirhat man basks in success of dragon fruit cultivation
The moment Abu Taleb tasted the dragon fruit for the first time in his life two years ago he knew he got stuck to it forever.
On a sunny day in 2019 his farm in Faridpur treated a visiting foreign team with the pink coloured fruit with juicy flesh and black seeds inside.
He and his colleagues had them too.
Read: Engineering graduate now a successful dragon fruit farmer
That was the day a highly impressed Taleb decided to move to his village at Kamalabari Battala area of Lalmonirhat’s Aditmari upazila determined to go for commercial cultivation of the fruit, that grows from cactus-like plants.
Two years down the line the 38-year-old man has developed a dragon fruit garden on three bighas of land from where he hopes to sell fruits worth up to Tk. 10 lakh.
Taleb, head of a 12-member famly, with an average monthly income of Tk. 1 lakh, has so far earned Tk. 4 lakh from dragon fruit and its saplings.
Read Alt. Farming: How women in Kurigram augment their households' incomes
His start was not as easy as he thought. He had to take several sessions with at local agricultural extension department to learn more about the method of the fruit’s cultivation.
He also got useful instructions from farmers who cultivated the fruit in other districts.
A bridge that serves no purpose
For the 1,000-plus children of two remote villages in Kaliganj upazila, the daily commute to school is nothing short of an ordeal. This is because the only bridge over a feeder stream of the Teesta in the Chor Boirati area has been lying useless for the past six years for want of a proper approach road on one side.
Also read: Crossing canal on bamboo bridge is a risky affair for Sunamganj villagers
"It's a long walk to school every morning. We are forced to take a detour of 4-5km to reach our school," an eight-year-old girl student told UNB on her way to school earlier this week.
In fact, the residents of the neighbouring hamlets have been facing immense sufferings since 2015 when the connecting road on the east side of the bridge was washed away in flash floods. Their repeated requests for the construction of the approach road to the authorities concerned have so far fallen on deaf ears.
Also read: Faridpur: Bailey bridge collapse snaps road link
"My students suffer everyday because of the reluctance of the local representatives in accelerating the repair work of the approach road on the east side of the bridge,” said Abu Bakar Siddique, the principal of Dakshin Ghoneshyam Government Primary School.
It's a nightmare for other residents as well. "Going to the market for buying daily essentials or selling our farm produce is really a pain. The upazila chairman and other members visit our area only during the elections. They make big promises only to forget after winning the polls," said Ayub Ali, a 60-year-old farmer.
Also read: Bridge linking Haripur and Kushtia on brink of collapse in just 3 years
Some 20,000 families live in the two villages. In the 1997-98 financial year, the bridge was built over the feeder stream of the Teesta at a cost of Tk 3 lakh by the local government engineering department for the benefit of the residents of the two villages.
When contacted, the engineer of Kaliganj upazila, ATM Shamshuzzaman, claimed that he was not aware of the situation. "But I will soon visit the area and take necessary steps to alleviate the sufferings of the local people," he said.
Bangladeshi injured in BSF firing along Lalmonirhat border
A Bangladeshi national was shot and wounded by the members of Indian Border Security Force(BSF) along Durgapur border in Aditmari upazila of Lalmonirhat district early Tuesday.
The victim was identified as Milon Islam, son of Raza Mia of Chauratari area.
Read: Indian teen shot by BSF handed over by BGB
Quoting local people, BGB said, the BSF troops from Padna Camp opened fire on a group of Bangladeshi people numbering 4/5 when they reached near border pillar no 925, leaving Milon injured.
Later, he was taken to Lalmonirhat Sadar Hospital from where he was taken to Rangpur Medical College and Hospital, said commanding officer of BGB-15 Battalion, Towhid.
A letter has been sent to BSF protesting the incident, he said.
Lalmonirhat villages celebrate Eid following Saudi Arabia
In line with the festive day in Saudi Arabia, residents of three unions in Lalmonirhat's Kaliganj upazila offered Eid-ul-Fitr prayers on Thursday.
Every year, Muslims living in the villages of Tusbhandar, Sundrahabi, Kakina, Chaparhat, Chandrapur, Aminganj and Munsipara in Kaliganj observe Ramadan and Eid a day before, in accordance with Saudi Arabia.
Read:Eid-ul-Fitr on Friday as Shawwal moon not sighted
The main Eid congregation was held at Munsipara Jame Mosque in Tusbhandar union of the upazila around 9.30 am on Thursday.
Kaliganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer Abdul Mannan said local worshipers offered Eid prayers at nearby mosques adhering to all Covid safety protocols under the strict vigil of police and the administration.
Eid-ul-Fitr is also being celebrated at 11 villages in Laxmipur in line with the festive day in Saudi Arabia, home to the world's most holy Muslim sites.
The villages are Noagaon, Joypura, Bigha, Hotatia, Sharshoi, Kanchanpur and Kalapur of Raipur upazila and Bashikpur of the district.
Among several places, the Eid congregations were held at Madania Kasemia Madrasa in Ramganj Upazila at 8am.
Residents of these villages have been celebrating all religious festivals, including Eid, for the past 40 years in line with the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
In Faridpur also, residents of 13 villages in Boalmari offered Eid prayers in the morning. Residents of a few villages in Satkhira also observed Eid-ul-Fitr by offering prayers in accordance with Saudi Arabia.
Read:Eid-ul-Fitr in Saudi Arabia on Thursday
Bangladesh will, however, officially celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr on Friday as the Shawwal moon was not sighted on Wednesday evening. The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Moon Sighting Committee.
Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of the Muslims, will be celebrated amid a global pandemic after a month of fasting.
The Religious Affairs Ministry has urged devotees to offer Eid prayers at the nearest mosques instead of Eidgah and open spaces, maintaining all health protocols.
Quinoa: Cultivating the 'mother of all grains'
One of the world's most popular health foods that have its roots in South America, quinoa is now being grown in Bangladesh for the domestic market.
High in protein, dietary fiber, and amino acids, quinoa is often referred to as the mother of all grains. It is basically a herbaceous annual plant grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds. Its cultivation has already spread to 70 countries, including the US.
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And in Bangladesh too, after five years of research at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, the cultivation of the rainfed crop has begun in isolated pockets in the districts of Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, and Patuakhali. However, its farming is still at a nascent stage.
"Following my application, the Ministry of Agriculture approved the cultivation of quinoa in Bangladesh in September 2020,” Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University's agronomy Prof Parimal Kanti Biswas told UNB.
"After five years of research, I have started cultivating quinoa at the field level. The results are expected," he added.
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