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Category: Khulna

Ten percent mangoes damaged due to Cyclone Amphan
Faruq Ahmed: Due to Cyclone Amphan, One lakh twenty thousand metric tonnes of mango has damaged. It amounts to ten percent of the country’s annual production of mango. Most of the mangoes which were supposed to be reaped within some days got knocked off the trees due to the mighty cyclone Amphan that brushed over the two districts.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), there is a total of 4,115 hectares of land were used for cultivating mangoes with a target of 40,000 tonnes in the seven upazilas of Satkhira. Nonetheless, the cyclone Amphan spoiled at least 83 percent of mangoes. Rajshahi Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) that mango was cultivated on 17,573 hectares of areas with a target of 210,000 tons of mangoes current year. About 12 to 15 percent mangoes fell from the trees due to the overnight stormy wind which might cause loss around Tk. 10 crore of we hypothetically rate per kg mango at Tk 40.
Rashed Iftekhar, agriculturist at the Department of Agricultural Extension’s control room in Dhaka was revealed this information. Bangladesh’s total 22.31 lakh hectares of orchard, mangoes in about 7,384 hectares were damaged in the cyclone, he also added.
Now, mango farmers have urged the government to purchase mangoes with the engagement of fruit processing industries. By this way, their losses will be minimized.
Dr Sorof Uddin, senior scientific officer of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, said to the media the district administration may take an urgent initiative to give the invitation to fruit processing industries for procuring the mangoes. Naturally, farmers start plucking mangoes midway through may every year while authorities set specific timeframes for its harvest in different districts of the country. The mango farmers also requested the Department of Agricultural Marketing for placing transport and marketing the mangoes to Dhaka and other places in the country as well.
Photo Courtesy: Dhaka Tribune
May 22, 2020
Shibsha River Erosion threatens for Sundarbans
Tahjeeb Hossain Chowdhury: The Shibsha River is threatening to consume the various vegetation found in the West Sundarbans. The World’s Largest Mangrove Forest, the western part, in particular, is facing a situation where even the Iconic and Namesake of the forest, The Sundari tree is also under immense threat.
The bank of Shibsha River has faced a damning case of erosion in recent times. The state is so dire that the erosion is threatening a land that expands to 15-20 kilometers in length. The Catastrophic erosion is causing the world-famous flora of the Western side of Sundarbans in a significant way.
Correspondents of different media have reported and published on newspaper that the erosion originally started from the eastern bank of the River. Inhabitants and fishermen of the area have lamented that erosion has intensified a lot during recent times and has made life quite difficult for humans and nature alike. They have also opined that the forest department should shoulder the blame for the spread as they played no significant part in stopping the whole spread to the western shores.
Many big trees and vegetation in the area were washed away and consumed deep beneath the riverbed. Two landmasses that develop because of silt, also known as Chars have appeared in the area. Professor Abdullah Harun Chowdhury of the Khulna University has opined that the salt portion in water and soil in the Noilan, Khulna, and Satkhira has risen and continues to rise.
He also added that the Salt and soil level increasing has lead to the soil losing the bond. Thus, as a result, has led to this terrible degree of soil erosion in the area. The forest officer in the region, Md Basir Al Mamun, said to the media that they have not yet been able to do a survey of the damage caused by the ongoing erosion. The last survey from the 2201-2014 period shows a 1 percent increase in the forest.
The forest conservator in the Khulna Area, Md Moinuddin Khan has said to media that the erosion is a natural occurrence in the Mangrove area. He has also said that they are ready to take necessary measures to stop the erosion.
(The writer is a marketing graduate, content writer, and data science enthusiast from Dhaka, reach him at [email protected])
Featured Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
October 30, 2019
People Face Water Crisis in this Summer in Khulna
Ashik Rahman: The shortage of drinking water is turning into a major problem in summer because there are no deep tube wells in the groundwater level in Khulna. People in Khulna city and five Upazilas’ of the Khulna district face serious water crisis this summer.
Officials of the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) claim that around at least 2.5 million people of Khulna city and Dighalia, Dumuria, Rupsha and Batiaghata Upazilas’ became sufferer.
Officials of DPHE said to different media that groundwater level declined by 21 feet on an average in the five Upazilas in the economic year 2012-2013 while it declined by 26 feet in 2011. For this reason, people in numerous areas of these Upazilas’ need to depend on undrinkable pond water.
Some water experts said in media that “scanty rainfall, poor navigability and extreme use of underground water were the main reasons behind the fall.
September 20, 2014
Rivers in Bangladesh ‘Comatose’
Ashik Rahman: The locality and government are neglected to be responsible for the relentless degradation. As a source of livelihood, communication, and heart of people in Dhaka had been determined to the Buriganga River but now it’s a major source of running the capital. This happens due to pollution and building illegal property by robbing. So, now Rivers in Bangladesh is in ‘Comatose’
Along with Buriganga, Turag, Shitalakkhya, Balu and Bangshi is being a death trap for increasing pollution and also indiscriminate sand lifting. The minimal level of dissolved oxygen (DO) required for life to survive in these rivers do not have.
Researchers of The Department of Environment (DoE) had been an alarming message on levels of DO in these rivers after three months of research. They have analysis on various samples of a chemical whose were collected from these rivers and the levels of DO in Buriganga, Turag and Bangshi were 0.38, 0.59 and 0.0 milligram per liter gradually.
According to the Environment Protection Act (Amendment) 2010, the minimum required level DO is 5 mg/l for any water body to sustain aquatic species including fishes and others is. The minimal standard rate for water being eligible for treatment as drinking water is 6 mg/l.
Contacted with Environment Expert Dr Ahsan Uddin Ahmed over the phone, he said that “such a DO merge amount in water poses severe great threats to biodiversity and hydro-ecology”. “Random dumping of waste has put the rivers in and around the city in a blackout”.
Professor Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) said that the government ought to shift the tannery diligence from the Hazaribagh, Dhaka. The chemical waste from the tanneries is a major polluter of these rivers. It’s important that The DoE research had been found that the level of DO at the Hazaribagh area of Buriganga River was 1.06, 0.50 and 1.0 mg/l in January, February and March gradually. And the Bio-Chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is also very high in these waters.
September 16, 2014
Sundarban
Ashik Rahman: Sundarban, proudly call by Bangladeshi people as home of tigers which situated at South-Western delta of the country. Sundarban has a huge collection of wild beings, gypsy fishermen; honey-collectors, risky and a mesmerizing mingle of rivers and the Bay of Bengal. This forest is the largest mangrove forest on earth. The meaning of Sundarban literally refers to “beautiful forest which comes from one kind of tree in the forest named ‘Sundari’ that is found in the Sundarbans in huge numbers.
This forest is the largest littoral mangrove belt in the world which widens 80 km into the Bangladeshi hinterland from the coastal area. The forests aren’t just mangrove swamps though; they include some of the last remaining stands of the mighty jungles which once covered the Gangetic plain.
Sundarban covers 6,000 square kilometers of Bangladeshi land bounded within three districts named Bagerhat, Khulna, and Sathkira in the North part of Bay of Bengal and in the South; Baleswar (or Haringhata) river, Perojpur, Barisal district in the East, and Raimangal and Hariabhanga in the West, sharing boundaries with the West Bengal (India). Sundarban lies in the vast delta on the Bay of Bengal formed by the super union of the Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers. UNESCO declared Sundarban as a world heritage site in the year 1997.
Famous Spots: To seeing tiger, deer, monkey, crocodiles, birds and the natural beauty of the forest, Hiron Point and Katka point are the best spots. Tin Kona Island and Dublar Chor is also a good place for seeing tiger and deer in Sundarban.
How to go: Although water transports are the best for this area tourist can go there by bus or, air. Tourists can start their journey from the capital’s Gabtoli bus terminal. Bus departures from Dhaka every 15 minutes after and will reach Khulna. Another route is air which fly from Dhaka to Jessore. Tourists can go from Jessore to Khulna by bus. If tourists can go there by water way, he/she needs to go to the capital’s Sadarghat to starts a journey with the ship. Both day and night-long coach services by road are available in every route.
To visit Sundarban, permission must be taken through written application from the divisional Forest Office and pay required entrance fees for visitors. Tourist also pays for vessels or boats at the appropriate forest station or range office. Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (Government tour Service) and other tour operating agencies have guided package tour package from Dhaka to Sundarbans.
Reference: http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2011/03/02/travel.htm
September 20, 2013