The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh ICDDR,B is experiencing an unusual rise in the number of diarrhoea patients due to the worsening flood situation in the low-lying areas in the eastern part of Dhaka.

The patient inflow at the hospital increased to more than 600 yesterday, which normally remains at 200-250, an ICDDR,B press release said.

Britain and Bangladesh will jointly hold a high-level conference on climate change on Wednesday in London to launch a possible Bangladesh-specific climate change action plan and trust fund in line with the Bali Declaration.

A special episode of the BBC Bangladesh Sanglap on climate change will be held at the Bangla-desh-China Friendship Confere-nce Centre in the capital today.
The BBC Bangla service has organised the Sanglap ahead of the high level UK-Bangladesh climate change conference in London on September 10.
The Sanglap is expected to discuss the impacts of climate change and shed light on the current challenges.

Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) blamed Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (Desa) for the frequent disruption in water supply to different parts of the capital city during Ramadan.

The acute water crisis has almost paralysed the normal life in the city recently despite the authorities' assurance about smooth supply of water during the holy month.

"Desa is 90 percent responsible for the present water crisis as water supply is being disrupted due to massive load-shedding," a top official of Wasa told UNB when asked about the severe water crisis.

Forming multi donor trust fund in the name of aiding Bangladesh in facing risk of climate change is an evil strategy, speakers said at a press conference yesterday.

Rejecting "Climate Change Strategy and Action for Bangladesh" of the government, they said the strategy paper was prepared according to the advice of the local representatives of the World Bank.

Equity and Justice Working Group (EquityBD) organised the press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity (DRU) in the city.

Green activists from a human chain and leaflet distribution ceremony on Monday said the sound pollution control act 2004 was not being enforced in Dhaka.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police in the middle of last year took some steps, including campaign against sound pollution, but later it did not continue with programme, the activists said.

Although the urban poor contribute significantly to urban economy, their problems, specially the housing problem, is never considered seriously by any government, said the speakers at a workshop in the city on Sunday.

They said the urban poor live in slums and are subject to frequent evictions.

The workshop titled 'House for the urban poor: Past experiences and present needs' was organised by Onneyshan, an NGO, with the assistance of Manusher Jonno Foundation at Dhaka Reporters Unity.

What the declaration made in Dhaka, following a six-day long 'International Symposium on Climate Change and Food Security' jointly sponsored by several national and international agencies, has helped to highlight is the fact that it is not only an environmental issue but also one that affect our very existence. And one couldn't agree more with the comments of the visiting Iceland President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson that climate change has the potential to be the most significant challenge to human security in the near future.

The government yesterday launched a long-term mega project to establish an integrated environment-friendly traffic management system in greater Dhaka to relieve people of the nagging traffic congestion.

The 20-year Strategic Transport Plan (STP) includes 17,400 square km of water and surface ways in Dhaka and neighbouring Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Munshiganj, Gazipur and Manikganj districts.

The government is going to implement the 20-year Strategic Transport Plan with the aim to free the capital from nagging tailbacks.
The project will be implemented on a stretch of 17,500 square kilometres of area in the Dhaka city and Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Narsingdi, Gazipur and Manikganj districts under a proper transport plan.
The chief adviser, Fakhrudin Ahmed, will inaugurate the implementation of the STP today.
The communications adviser, Ghulam Quader, and secretary of the Roads and Railways Department will also spoke on the occasion.