Fertiliser dealers in Nilphamari district refrained from receiving delivery of urea from Parbotipur buffer stock for the second day yesterday, much to the worry of farmers.

Following a call by the Nilphamari unit of Bangladesh Fertiliser Association (BFA) to realise their three-point demand, all the 75 dealers of the district stopped withdrawing fertiliser from the buffer stock in adjacent Dinajpur district for an indefinite period from Tuesday afternoon.

Their demand includes stopping supply of China made ‘low quality’ fertiliser to the local dealers from Parbotipur buffer stock, setting up a buffer stock in Nilphamari, which is a major paddy producing area of the country, and allowing the fertiliser dealers to take delivery of locally produced good quality Jamuna variety of urea fertiliser under ‘district quota’ from factory gate.

“Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) has recently imported low quality urea from China and the buffer stock officials at Parbotipur are compelling us to receive it. As a result we have to incur monitory losses,” said district unit of BFA President Abdul Wahed Sarker.

“To realise our three-point demand, we handed over a memorandum to the BCIC chairman through the deputy commissioner of Nilphamari one month ago but to no effect,” he said.

Nitrogenated urea, most important fertiliser for cultivating paddy, is supplied to Dinajpur and Nilphamari districts from the buffer stock at Parbotipur in Dinajpur district, fertiliser dealers said.

When the farmers are busy in planting ‘amon’ seedlings, the fertiliser dealers’ programme may cause setback in cultivation, as specific doses of urea is to be sprayed in paddy fields three times at certain intervals till harvest, said several farmers.

Many farmers, anxious about availability of fertiliser in days ahead, yesterday crowded the shops of fertiliser dealers and retailers in different markets of the district to purchase urea.

The district unit president of BFA said they have a good stock of urea that can meet the farmers’ demand for about a week.

“But if the authorities concerned fail to meet our demand within a short time, continued agitation programme may create problem in future,” he said.

In July, the government has allocated 2600 tonnes of urea for the district but only a small portion of it was withdrawn before the agitation programme started.

“The fertiliser dealers of Nilphamari stopped withdrawing urea from Tuesday alleging that the urea imported from China is of low quality. I have informed the higher authority of BCIC of the matter,” said Md Shahjahan, the in-charge of Parbotipur buffer stock.

Nilphamari Deputy Commissioner’s Office sources said they are in close contact with the fertiliser dealers and trying to resolve the problem.

Energy starved Bangladesh has signed a landmark 35-year power transmission deal with India paving ways for import of 250 megawatt electricity from the neighbouring country starting from 2012 end, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.

The state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) inked the bulk power transmission treaty with Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) at a ceremony witnessed by Bangladesh’s Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Prime Minister’s energy adviser Tawfique-e-Elahi Chowdhury and concerned officials of both the countries.

The agreement keeps the provision for Bangladesh to export power to India in the future while PGCIL was tasked to construct, own, operate and maintain a 400-KV double-circuit line to exchange 500-MW power between the two neighbouring countries soon after the system is launched.

“It’s (agreement) a small step but a greater thought in regional cooperation through which the South Asian countries will immensely benefit,” Muhith said.

According to the agreement, the transmission tariff will be fixed later by the Energy Regulatory Commission of West Bengal while BPDB will pay the transmission tariff on a monthly basis.

Under the agreement PGCIL will invest and construct 80 kilometre transmission line and own, operate and maintain it.

The Indian company will recover the construction cost under a fixed rate over 35 years.

“If in future we can export power, the beneficiary or the Indian consumers will share the cost. This is why this agreement is a power exchange deal,” BPDB chairman Alamgir Kabir said.

The Indian part of the infrastructure will also include a 400 KV switching station at Baharampur, loop-in and loop-out of Farakka-Jeerat 400 KV single circuit line at the same place, and a 400 KV double circuit line from Baharampur of India running up to Bheramara in Bangladesh.

On the other hand in other side of the border, the state-run Power Grid Company of Bangladesh floated a tender in April to set up a 40 km transmission line in Bheramara with a high voltage sub-station at a cost of US$150 million to be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Bangladesh currently faces electricity deficit of over 1500 to 1800 mw on an average against the de-rated capacity of 4500 mw in 132 state run and private units.

The government recently formulated a vision plan as part of its desperate efforts to augment electricity amid growing demands while the poor power supply is estimated to cost around two percent in GDP growth each year according a study of the World Bank.

Only around 40 per cent of Bangladesh is currently have access to electricity while the country now witnesses a deficit of 1,000 to 1,500 mw power with 41 public and private sector plants with de-rated capacity of 5,198 mw.

Bangladesh’s parliament Wednesday formed a 15-member parliamentary committee to begin a review of the country’s 1972 constitution. The opposition parties opposed the move by keeping out.

The government of Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina, who recommended the committee to the House, hopes to amend the constitution and debate its basic tenets socialism and secularism that were altered by past military-led governments.

Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury has been made the chairperson of the committee while Awami League lawmaker Suranjit Sengupta is the co-chairperson.

Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain termed the formation of the All Party Parliamentary Committee (APPC) to decide on restoring of the 1972 Constitution “anti-constitutional and against the parliamentary rules of procedure”.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, the leader of the opposition in parliament, consulted legal and constitutional experts before taking the decision.

Bangladesh enacted its statute in 1972. Nationalism, democracy, secularism and socialism were enshrined as the basic tenets.

After the assassination of country’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and during the 1975-90 military-led phase of governance, socialism was dropped and secularism was replaced by a declaring country as an Islamic republic.

Other members to be included are Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and those who fought in the 1971 freedom movement including Abdur Razzak and Tofael Ahmed.

Representatives from other parties include Jatiya Party lawmaker Anisul Islam Mahmud, Workers Party’s Rashed Khan Menon, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal’s Hasanul Haq Inu and National Awami Party’s Amina Ahmed.

Bangladesh has proposed the setting up of an environment court with powers to jail polluters for up to five years, officials said on Tuesday.

They said the plan was endorsed by the cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday, and would soon be put before parliament for approval.

Any citizen would be allowed to file a case in the court – with its headquarters in Dhaka and branches across the country. Targets could include factory owners and builders who illegally grab land and waterways.

All four of Bangladesh’s major rivers, including the Buriganga that provide a lifeline to millions of people in and around Dhaka, have been heavily polluted by industrial and human waste, killing fish and leaving the water unfit for use.

Environmental protection groups have made a series of protests in recent years against such abuses of waterways, while city planners have demanded the reclamation of dozens of canals and parks that had bee illegally occupied and built over.

The proposed court would have the power to jail offenders for up to five years and impose half a million taka (US$7,000) fine, said Abul Kalam Azad, press secretary to the prime minister.

Bangladesh already has an environmental protection law with options for lesser punishments but it has been little used, officials said.

“It is a good initiative to have a court with wider powers to save the endangered environment,” said Syeda Rizwana Hasan, leader of Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association. “But how effective it will be remains to be seen.”

Others said prosecuting land grabbers and polluters has often been difficult in the past because of widespread corruption.

Pollution is growing alarmingly in Bangladesh, one of the world’s most densely populated countries with more than 150 million people. Health officials and doctors say millions of Bangladeshis suffer from pollution-related ailments.

A World Bank study last year said four major rivers near the capital Dhaka receive 1.5 million cubic metres of waste water every day from 7,000 industrial units along their banks and another 0.5 million cubic metres from other sources.

The cyclone Bijli crossed the country on Saturday late night leaving at least six people dead, injuring dozens of others and damaging vast areas of farmland with Boro paddy.

A met office official said the cyclone had passed the southeastern coastlines on Saturday night with a weakened strength.

Cox\’s Bazar correspondent an official said the district suffered much due to the storm, which killed two children and a schoolteacher there.

One child was stampeded as people rushed to a cyclone shelter in Cox\’s Bazar sadar upazila while another killed in a treefall at Pekua. The schoolteacher died due to suffocation at Kutubdia Island.

According to the Red Crescent officials, two persons died at Banskhali in Chittagong out of panic and another one died in Burichar of Hatia.

The Red Crescent officials said that said 3,23,280 people took shelters in cyclone shelter under a massive evacuation campaign.

An official of the Red Crescent\’s Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) said, people started returning home from early morning, as the cyclone weakened passed the country.

The local administration said the first cyclone of the season damaged thousands of mud built and thatched houses and cropland with Boro paddy, uprooted trees, and knocked out power and telephone lines. The major victims of the storm were the salt traders, as salt-beds were damaged by storm wave.

Some fishing trawlers were also damaged during the storm, as thousands of trawler were anchored around the coastline.

Some parts of Cox\’s Bazar and Chottagong were out of touch, as these areas were without power and telecommunication through out the night. The operation of chittagong port was closed, people were evacuated and emergency services were on stand by.

Except some part of Chittagong and Cox\’s Bazar, most of the coastal areas remained unscathed. The southern coastal districts of Noakhali, Feni, Laxmipur and Bhola were also hit by strom.

Disaster Management officials in Dhaka said, concerned officials of the local administration were collecting data from field levels to assess the extent of damage and they were expected to prepare a primary report compiling the data by Sunday.

Chittagong Port official Syed Muhammad Farhaduddin said that the operation of the port started from Saturday morning and the jetties remained open.The Chittagong airport, which remained closed, started its operation from 8:00 am of yesterday.

Abdul Mannan, official of met office said the depression was still packing moderate winds, which caused the sea to be rough near the Chittagong and Cox\’s Bazar coastline.

The storm triggered high wave, which was six to eight feet higher than the normal tidal surge level.

Syedul Islam, duty officer of the disaster ministry control cell, said that necessary precautionary measures, evacuation of people from the danger zone and proper publicly minimised the causality.

The met office had earlier asked to keep hoisted danger signal no7 for Chittagong port and Cox\’s Bazar and Mongla ports had been asked to keep hoisted danger signal 6 and 5 respectively.

Authority asked fishing trawlers to stay in safe places, movement of long route passenger carrying launches and ships was stopped till further notice.

The district administration kept the law enforcement agencies alert for any emergency sensing the possibility of tidal surge.

The last major cyclone to hit Bangladesh was Sidr\’ in November 2007. it left a death toll of around 3,000 in its wake. A devastating cyclone in April 1991 claimed the lives of nearly 140,000 people.

Geography

The District of Mymensingh is situated between 24°02‘03″ and 25°25‘56″ north latitude and 89°39‘00″ and 91°15‘35″ east longitude. According to the latest report received (1971) from the director, Land Records and Survey, it comprises an area of 5,039.76 square miles (13,052.92 km²). Mymensingh city is situated within Mymensingh Upazilla which is a sub-district.

The city has no officially defined geographical limits. The actual city area is larger than the Municipal area. Since 1980s the city has expanded with fast urbanization. Mymensingh city is clearly marked by the old Brahmaputra river flowing along its north. Some other different ends of the city are marked respectively by the beginning of the Agricultural University campus, the Medical College, Army cantonment and, finally, Sultanabad, a township built for the followers of Aga Khan. A railway line connecting Dhaka with northern districts, built between 1885 and 1899,^[12] passes through the city and divides it into two sides.

Climate and weather

The climate of Mymensingh is moderate. However for proximity of the Himalayas, it feels much colder than Dhaka. The monsoon starts in May or June and continues till August. It rains heavily and sometimes for days and weeks. During the monsoon, the temperature varies between 15 and 20 degrees. The temperature falls below 15 °C (59 °F) in winter which is spread over December and January and may well include November and February. Highest temperature is felt during April-May period when the temperature may be as high as 40 degrees. High humidity causes huge sweating during this period. For Western travelers, the best time to visit is between November and February.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in parliament yesterday said the government has a plan to set up more international and domestic airports in the next fiscal year.

Replying to a question she said the government has adopted a plan to set up Bangabandhu International Airport as per the election manifesto. The proposed international airport will act as a bridge between the countries of East and West.

Hasina informed the House that the committee formed for the purpose has already submitted its pre-feasibility study report.

Besides, work for formulating document to set up the airport on the basis of Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programme is under process.

The Prime Minister said Cox’s Bazar Airport would be upgraded to an international standard at a cost of Tk 302.65 crore by 2012. Development of Cox’s Bazar Airport Phase-1 is expected to be implemented by June 2012.

She further informed that the government has taken measures to set up a domestic airport at Rampal of Bagerhat to aid Mongla Port and the tourist spots of the area. A project titled “Construction of Khanjahan Ali Airport (Rampal, Bagerhat)” will be implemented at a cost of Tk 470.30 crore. The airport will provide quick transport facility between the south and western districts.

On healthcare the Prime Minister said the government is committed to provide healthcare facilities to the people for which 3551 physicians were appointed on ad-hoc basis.

Responding to a question during the PM’s question hour she said 1,445 nurses were also appointed recently.

She said that 6,347 medical assistants were appointed at the field level. Process is on for recruitment of another 1,581 medical assistants.

Hasina said that to provide better healthcare to the people across the country, the government already gave clearance for appointment of doctors at different levels.

The government is also distributing modern equipment to hospitals for improved treatment of patients. Strict measures have been taken to ensure attendance of doctors, officers and employees in all public hospitals, she added.

On jute sector the PM criticised the BNP-Jamaat government for “destroying” the jute industry and expressed her government’s firm determination to regain the lost share of jute goods in the world market.

Replying to a supplementary question, she said the “BNP-Jamaat government intentionally destroyed” the country’s jute sector by closing down government-owned jute mills one after another.

“As a result, we lost the share of jute in the world market and the present government is determined to regain that share.”

Responding to another supplementary question, the Prime Minister said the previous BNP-led government had taken ‘policy of shrinking’ for the jute sector. “This was the end… they just destroyed the jute sector.”

She, however, said that the golden days of jute are coming back and the government would do whatever is possible to develop this sector.

“We have decided to build the pipeline at a cost of $150 million as Chevron says production at the Moulavi Bazar, Jalalabad and Bibiyana gas fields will be more than doubled to 1,840 million cubic feet (mmcft) a day,” said Mohammad Hussain Monsur, chairman of the state-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, or Petrobangla.

The increased production will be available by end of 2012, he told Reuters, adding that it comes at a time when the south Asian country is facing yawning gap between supply and demand for gas.

Monsur said to hasten the project, Bangladesh will avoid seeking funds for the pipeline from World Bank or any other multilateral financing agency but would pay for it from the state coffers.

He said Chevron had informed Petrobangla that it had identified additional gas production capacity and needed infrastructure to connect the fields with the national supply network.

Bangladesh at present faces up to 400 mmcft gas shortages a day, with the authorities supplying at best nearly 2,000 mmcft per day.

Chevron currently produces almost half the country’s gas supplies under two production sharing contracts.

The government would stop all sorts of environmental degradation following hill cutting, forest plundering or poor management of industrial waste, said Primary and Mass Education Minister Afsarul Amin.

He said this while speaking at the inaugural programme of sapling distribution of British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) at Mercantile Marine House Field yesterday.

He stressed the need for creating mass awareness to preserve forest and inspire people to plant more trees to deal with the negative impacts of climate change.

He urged the private organisations to play role in afforestation in a planned way to save people from environmental disaster and protect bio-diversity.

Head of corporate and regulatory affairs of BATB Zakir Ibne Hai said BATB would distribute around 40 lakh saplings free of cost this year.

Divisional commissioner Md Serajul Huq Khan, DIG of police, Chittagong Range Asaduzzaman Mia and divisional forest officer Md Badrul Anam Bhuiyan spoke at the function.

Hanufa Bibi stoops in a worn sari and mismatched flip-flops to work the hand pump on her backyard well. Spurts of clear water wash grains of rice from her hands, but she can never get them clean.

Thick black warts tattoo her palms and fingers, the result of drinking arsenic-laced well water for years. It’s a legacy that new research has linked to 1 in 5 deaths among those exposed inBangladesh – an impoverished country where up to half of its 150 million people have guzzled tainted groundwater.

The World Health Organization has called it “the largest mass poisoning of a population in history,” as countless new wells continue to be dug here daily without testing the water for toxins.

“The magnitude of the arsenic problem is 50 times worse thanChernobyl,” said Richard Wilson, president of the nonprofitArsenic Foundation and a physics professor emeritus at Harvard University who was not involved in the study. “But it doesn’t have 50 times the attention paid to it.”

The issue surfaced about two decades ago, after some 10 million shallow hand-pump wells like Bibi’s were sunk across the country in the 1970s with money from international donors.

The wells were meant to provide clean drinking water to help prevent deadly waterborne diseases, such as cholera. But they unintentionally tapped into arsenic deposits in the ground, releasing the odorless, colorless and tasteless toxin into water used for drinking and cooking. Arsenic has been linked to cancers, liver ailments, skin diseases, heart problems and other health issues.

The new research, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and published online June 19 inThe Lancet medical journal, is the first to examine how drinking arsenic-contaminated water over time shaves years off lives.

For the nearly 12,000 people followed over 10 years in the country’s Araihazar region east of the capital, researchers found that even low doses of arsenic in drinking water could increase the chances of early death. The study also found that damage on all levels appears to be permanent.

“It’s similar to tobacco smoking. Once you smoke for 20 years and then you stop smoking, your risk of getting tobacco-induced cancer over the next decade will still be high,” co-author Habibul Ahsan from the University of Chicago’s Center for Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention said by phone. “Even if, say, for some miracle all the individuals are provided arsenic-free water from tomorrow, these people will also be at a higher risk of dying for many years to come.”

More than 75 percent of those studied drank arsenic-contaminated water above WHO’s recommended safe limits. About a quarter of deaths from chronic illnesses and a fifth of the total 407 adult deaths were attributed to arsenic.