The government has refixed the fare of CNG-run passenger buses and minibuses at Tk 1.20 and Tk 1.10 per kilometre respectively for Dhaka and Chittagong cities. It also set the minimum fare of the CNG-run buses at Tk 5 and directed diesel-run bus operators to convert their vehicles into CNG within next three months, said a press release of the Road and Railway Division yesterday. A nine-member committee formed on May 21 refixed the fare in the wake of price hike of CNG to Tk 16.75 from Tk 8.5 per cubic metre as the CNG bus operators were demanding an increase in bus fare.

The government yesterday formed a high-powered committee to set the fare of CNG-run passenger buses running in Dhaka and Chittagong as the bus operators refused to accept the fare fixed by a previously formed committee. After a series of meetings with different stakeholders, a sub- committee of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) had earlier proposed the fare for one-kilometre journey at Tk 0.98. The transport leaders, however, demanded fixing Tk 1.71 per kilometre, almost double the recommended fare.

The technical and expert committee in its report has suggested introduction of a separate and complete rule for preservation and development of hills in Chittagong to avert casualties and damages of properties during landslides. The committee sent the report to cabinet division on April 21 suggesting measures to stop hill cutting and not to allow housing in foothills, said Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Md Zafar Alam, also member secretary of the committee.

MALARIA, the silent killer of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, claimed 22 lives and attacked over 20,000 during three months

Imported perishable foods worth over a staggering Tk 80 crore were spoiled or exceeded expiration date for consumption in the last fourteen months due to inefficient auctioning mechanism of unclaimed containers at Chittagong Port. The huge quantity of food items had to be disposed of at a time when a huge segment of the populace is trying to cope with galloping food prices.

THE prevalence of malaria has declined to a significant extent in the Chittagong Hill Tracts following a project undertaken by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and funded by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria with a tune of $39.06 million one dollar is equal to 68 taka).

According to some estimates, there are more than a million people across the world directly engaged in ship breaking- Bhaskar Dasgupta

No healthcare facilities for them

A large number of children in Chittagong, Bangladesh, are suffering from asthma due to increasing air pollution in the city. According to Moynul Islam, a doctor air pollution and the increasing use

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