Gaibandha
No political programmes in schools disrupting classes
A school is a place for education, not for political programmes; yet such an incident has taken place in Sundarganj Union of Gaibandha. On the same day, allegations have arisen against local BNP leaders for holding political programmes in seven educational institutions. According to reports published in the media yesterday (28 August), these programmes included membership renewal, enrolment of new members and formation of ward committees. It has been reported that classes were disrupted between 10am and 6pm last Wednesday due to these programmes. However, the BNP has claimed that they did not conduct activities in a way that disrupted teaching.
Mobile operators fail to deliver 4G service in most of areas
A recent drive test by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in three districts has revealed that in most areas, 4G network coverage was unavailable. Among the private operators, Grameenphone—the country’s largest by subscriber base—recorded the highest lack of 4G coverage, with 58% of the tested areas showing no access.
Why navigability couldn't be restored despite spending billions of taka
Many rivers in Bangladesh require dredging. Numerous rivers are suffering from a lack of navigability. As a result, during the dry season, navigation becomes impossible in these rivers, while in the rainy season, they overflow and cause flooding. A recent survey revealed that the majority of the country's rivers are facing navigability issues. The Old Brahmaputra River has been suffering from such a crisis for a long time. To address this, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) began dredging the river in 2019. However, after six years of dredging, not only has the water flow not improved, but the river’s course has been diverted in at least three places. In some areas, sand from the dredging was dumped directly into the river in an unplanned manner, while in others, the main flow was redirected to occupy land. As a result, hundreds of people have lost homes and farmland due to river erosion.