Our Correspondent
Five people were killed by lightning strikes in Lalmonirhat and Panchagarh districts on Thursday.
In Lalmonirhat, four people were killed and six others injured in lightning strikes in Patgram and Hatibandha upazilas of the district in the morning.
Two people were killed and two others injured as a thunderbolt struck them while they were fishing at Islampur village in Patgram upazila in the morning.
The deceased were identified as Zahedul Islam, 26, son of Khandaker Ali and Rakib Hasan, 24, son of Zahir Uddin of the vilalge. Mashiur Rahman, Upazila Nirbahi Officer, said the incident took place when a group of people were catching fish in a waterbody amid rain in the morning. The injured were taken to Rangpur Medical College and Hospital.
In another incident, two people were killed and four others injured as a thunderbolt struck them while they were catching fish at Tongbhanga in Hatibandha upazila in the morning, said Faruk Hossain, officer-in-charge of Hatibandha Police station.
The deceased were identified as Mantu Mia, 40 and Ati, 38, son of Abdul Hamid of Bejgram in the upazila.
In Panchagarh, Mahesh Chandra, 55, son of Mahendra Nath Roy of Kaharpara village in Boda upazila, was killed by a lightning strike while working at his cropland, said Abu Haider Md Ashrafuzzaman, officer-in-charge of Boda Police Station.
Virus surge in Kishoreganj, 32 more infected
Our Correspondent
Thirty-two more people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in Kishoreganj in the last 24 hours till Thursday morning, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the district to 1,552.
Civil Surgeon of the district Dr Mohammad Mujibur Rahman said the results of sample tests of 278 people came out on Wednesday night, confirming that 32 new people were infected with coronavirus.
Of the newly infected people, 15 were detected from Sadar upazila, two each from Karimganj, Astagram and Katiadi upazilas, three from Pakundia upazila, one each from Kuliarchar and Nikli upazilas and six from Bhairab upazila. So far, 1,031 people have made full recovery from the highly contagious virus while 24 people have died from the disease in the district.
5 more die of fever, cold related problems in Cumilla
Our Correspondent
Five more people including a woman died of fever and cold related problems at Cumilla Medical College and Hospital in the last 24 hours until Thursday.
With the new deaths, 132 people have so far died with the same symptoms at the hospital, said its assistant director Dr Sajeda Khatun.
Besides, she said, 117 people are now undergoing treatment at the hospital and 38 of them are Covid-19 patients. The remaining 79 are receiving treatment at the isolation unit of the hospital, Sajeda added.
AL leader dies of Covid-19 in Bogura
Our Correspondent
A local leader of Awami League died from coronavirus at a hospital in the capital early Thursday.
The deceased was identified as Ashiqur Rashid Helal, 60, president of Dhunat municipality unit Awami League.
AL leader Helal was undergoing treatment at Bogura TMSS Medical College and Hospital after he tested positive for Covid-19 on June 23.
Our Correspondent
Thousands of people of three upazilas of Sunamganj district have been suffering a lot as Kathir-Jaynagar road in Sadar upazila has become dilapidated and unfit for movement.
Although renovation work was carried out on Kathir-Jaynagar road just a year ago some big potholes have been developed in many parts of the road, making tit unfit for use.
According to the sources at Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), the government allocated Tk 78 lakh for the renovation work of the11 kilometer road stretching from Hossainnagar-Joynagar bazar, a portion of Madanpur-Jamalganj road in the fiscal year 2017-2018.
Two contractor firms-‘Mahbub Enterprise’ and ‘JR Enterprise’ got the task of the renovation work of the road.
But after one year of the repair work, the road stretching from Hossainnagar to Sardarpur point has turned dilapidated, causing immense sufferings to locals.
Several thousand people of three upazilas —Jamalganj, South Sunamganj and Sadar upazilas— use the road for going to the district headquarters and other divisional cities including Sylhet.
Local people alleged that the road has become risky for movement due to use of substandard materials during the renovation work. Abu Talib Al Murad, a resident of Barma Uttar vilalge in Mohonpur union, said, “Though the government allocated money for the repair work of the road on regular basis but to no use.”
Saju Talukdar, a resident of Mohonpur village, said “We requested the authorities concerned to repair the work following the government rules but they did not pay any heed to our request.”
Director of the contractor firm, ‘JR Enterprise’ Mohamamd Ripon, said, “We had to count loss while doing the repair work of the road. Though our contract time had expired but we filled up the potholes created on the road.”
Anwar Hossain, engineer of Local Government Division, Sadar upazila, said, “We have given a proposal for the renovation of the road under a big project. Besides, we also sent a letter to the contractor firm concerned to repair the dilapidated parts of the road.”
Contacted, Executive engineer of Sunamganj Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), said necessary steps will be taken soon.
Flood control embankment breaks down in Sirajganj
Our Correspondent
A150-metre stretch of an embankment at Sirajganj’s Shimlaunder the Sadar upazila broke due to strong current of the Jamuna River on Wednesday night.
Local UP Chairman Shahidul Alam said the erosion of the embankment continued until Thursday morning. He accused the Water Development Board of not taking any initiative to address the issue.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sarkar Asim Kumar visited the spot and said they have evacuated 50 families adjacent to the embankment and primarily relief was distributed among them. Sirajganj Water Development Board Engineer AKM Rafikul Islam said they have prepared geobags to fill up the damaged areas of the embankment and the repair work will begin shortly.
BARI arranges trainers training on use of bio pesticides
Our Correspondent
The Entomology Division of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) arranged a day-long trainers training workshop for the imams of different mosques titled ‘Insects and diseases management by using bio pesticides based technology in fruits and vegetables’ at the BARI seminar room yesterday. A total of 35 Imams of different mosques of Gazipur participated at the training workshop. The programme was arranged with the fund of ‘development and expansion of bio-rational based integrated pest management technologies of vegetables, fruits and betel leaf project’.
BARI Director General Dr. Md. Nazirul Islam inaugurated the training workshop as the chief guest while Chief Scientific Officer & Head of Entomology Division and Project Director Dr. Debashish Sarker presided over the function. Director (Research) Dr. Md. Miaruddin, Director (Support & Services) Mr. Md. Habibur Rahman Sheikh were present as special guests. Principal Scientific Officer of Entomology Division Dr. Nirmal Kumar Dutta gave the welcome address while Senior Scientific Officer of Entomology Division Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman Sarker conducted the function.
In his speech as the chief guest, BARI Director General Dr. Md. Nazirul Islam said, Imams’ are the leaders of our society. People of our society try to abide by them. Excessive use of pesticides in crops can pose a threat to public health. So we don’t want to eat pesticide poison anymore. That’s why we need to use bio pesticides by which we can assure safety of our next generation and ourselves. And I think Imams’ are the right persons to spread this message among the people.
