Dipankar Roy

Around 3:00pm, South Central Road of Khulna city  remains almost empty due to the scorching heat. However, an opposite scenario can be noticed on the footpath in front of Government Pioneer Women’s College. With a canopy overhead, vendors have set up iftar stalls. Of these stalls, “Nana Special Halim” continues to gather a large crowd.

Seeds of local varieties -- preserved by families for generations -- have been the most adaptive way of cultivation for the distinct climatic conditions of the country’s coastal areas.

A microphone used in Bangabandhu’s March 7 speech, indigenous weapons used in the resistance war, clothes and telephone sets used by freedom fighters, transmitters used in refugee camps, letter from then Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed to his wife on the white part of an empty cigarette box, which says, “Johra, if you can, join the seven and a half crore Bangalees.”

Mitu Sana, a homemaker from Gunari village at Khulna’s Dakop upazila, has to go to the Union Parishad pond -- far from her home -- to fetch drinking water.

Mitu Sana, a homemaker from Gunari village at Khulna’s Dakop upazila, has to go to the Union Parishad pond -- far from her home -- to fetch drinking water.

As many as 108 illegal housing projects have allegedly emerged in Khulna and adjacent areas -- on arable land, water bodies and tidal floodplain -- without any approval from Khulna Development Authority (KDA) and Department of Environment (DoE).

In May last year, 40-year-old Sunita Das, from Gatirgheri village of Khulna’s Koyra, lost her home to cyclone Yaas. More than 50 villages in Koyra were submerged, and around 45 metres of the flood control dam of Shakbaria river in Gatirgheri were washed away at the time.

Sitting in her narrow yard, Karuna Mandal was sorting watermelon seeds. Nearly a hundred plastic and earthen pots, wrapped in polyethene and full of different kinds of seeds, lay in front of her.

Nilufa Akhter is a 36-year-old single mother of two who lost her husband six years ago.

Unauthorised fishing of mother crabs, especially during the ongoing breeding season in different rivers and canals in the coastal areas adjacent to the Sundarbans has been going on unabated.

For a growing city of 1.7 million people, most of whom are constantly on the move, there are only 19 public toilets in Khulna.

Parimal Roy, a middle aged small trader, was sobbing beside Khulna city’s Rupsha Kitcken market. His complexion had turned pale, while some people were trying to console him. He simply kept repeating how all of his dreams had turned to ashes.

On Saturday, Khulna city’s Shibbari intersection was in utter chaos. It was a free-for-all, as vehicles only stopped when police officers jumped in front of them, risking their lives.

As soon as winter begins, the Sundarbans sees an influx of tourists who come to enjoy the tranquil and exotic atmosphere of the world’s largest mangrove forest.

Khulna’s Mayur River has been gradually shrinking due to faulty design of a bridge on it by the Roads and Highways Department (RHD).

There’s no city bus service for 1.7 million residents of Khulna for the last four years.

Taltala canal, once a two kilometre-long vital waterbody flowing through Khulna city, is approaching extinction due to indiscriminate garbage dumping.

The Bastuhara-Boyra Housing Market was constructed 10 long years ago. But even after all this time, the Khulna City Corporation (KCC) owned market is yet to launch.

Imagine a dumpster sitting right opposite the main gate of a hospital, spreading a ghastly stench. Those who dump waste here don’t even bother to make sure their trash is placed at the bin, which means there’s at least a few feet of waste around the dumpster. Even though the bin has remained at such a sensitive spot for years, no steps have been taken to remove it.

The Maheshwarpasha Art School was established in 1904 by artist Shashibhushan Pal, the first of its kind for the East Bengal region.