Livestock officials culled 95,000 chickens at the bird flu-infected poultry farm at city's Uttar Badda as the culling continued for the second consecutive day yesterday. The government, meantime, decided to set up 16 more laboratories in the country next month for testing and identifying bird flu viruses as more and more areas are coming under avian influenza infestation.
Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed called for utilising every inch of land for boosting food output. He made the remark while addressing a rally on the Char Jubli Habib Ullah Mia Hat High School premises in Subornachar upazila yesterday. "Import of food would not solve the food deficit problem nor will it bring down prices of rice. Food deficit has to be solved through boosting production,' he said, calling for utilising 30 crore hands of 15 crore people. General Moeen told the audience that two-thirds of allocated money of development projects used to be wasted earlier.
Two adjoining villages in haor areas of Karimganj and Itna upazilas in Kishoreganj could be saved if the work started by a previous government could be completed. Vast areas of Chong Nowagaon village in Karimganj upazila and Shimulbag in Itna upazila have been eroded by Dhono river, rendering about 300 families homeless in last several years. Locals said, they fell victim when the then Ershad government in 1988 dug a four kilometer cannel, locally known as Katakhal, in the haor at Boribari union in Itna upazila to link Dhono and Ghorautra rivers to the reduce waterway distance.
The caretaker government plans to ban two-stroke vehicles in all the district headquarters and metropolitan cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to hazardous global warming. "Government is thinking about making cities and district towns clean by getting rid of two-stroke engine as it causes massive air pollution,' Raja Devasish Roy, special assistant to chief adviser on Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and Forest Affairs, told UNB. He said the government will take steps to create awareness among the people against the use of two-stroke engines.
The solar power plant installed by Power Development Board (PDB) at Baghachola village under Barkal upazila in Rangamati at a cost of Tk 8 lakhs is virtually of no use because of lack of proper maintenance. It was set up there about one year ago under Chittagong Hill Tracts Solar Photovoltaic Electrification Project (CHTSPVEP) to supply power and safe water among households. The technology does not benefit the villagers allegedly due to lack of maintenance by PDB officials, locals told this correspondent during a visit.
A farmer was killed and 30 others including a woman were injured in a clash between musclemen of landlords and landless farmers following a feud over bringing water from a river for irrigating paddy field at Terashikandi shoal in Haimchar upazila yesterday, police said. The deceased is Giasuddin Howlader,40, they said. He died on way to hospital while seriously injured Nasima Begum,26, and 18 others are undergoing treatment at Chandpur Sadar Hospital.
Participants in a workshop on Thursday stressed the need for disaster-resistant sustainable forestation to save the country's coastal belt from natural calamities.
Due to the uncontrolled human activities along the sandy beaches of St Martin's Island, the yearly arrival of turtles on the island for laying eggs has reduced significantly.
