S Dilip Roy

This year, Eid-ul-Fitr brought little joy to thousands of people living in the shoals of 14 upazilas across Kurigram and Lalmonirhat districts due to severe financial hardships amid a lack of employment opportunities.

According to officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension, strawberries are being cultivated on a total of 15 acres of land in Kurigram and four acres in Lalmonirhat. Some are getting good yields, and some are not. Sapling selection is very important for getting a good yield of strawberry production

The major rivers in Kurigram and Lalmonirhat districts, including Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dudhkumar, Gangadhar and Dharla, are drying up, pushing fishermen into crisis.

Around 230 trucks entered port in two days  

Boat travel on the Brahmaputra is being severely disrupted due to a navigability crisis, causing immense suffering for passengers travelling from Kurigram’s Mogolbasa, Jatrapur, and Chilmari Ramna River Port to Roumari, Rajibpur, Jamalpur, and Gaibandha’s Sundarganj.

Under the deal, POWERCHINA will prepare a concept paper by December and conduct a feasibility study in 2026

Stone and boulder imports from India and Bhutan through Burimari land port in Lalmonirhat, the second-largest land port in Bangladesh, have been halted since February 1 due to price disputes.

Rampant illegal sand extraction from the Dharla river in the Char Sonaikaji and Char Jatin areas of Shimulbari union in Kurigram’s Phulbari upazila is posing a threat to the foundations of Dharla Bridge.

Around 22,000 inhabitants in Dahagram union, located in Lalmonirhat’s Patgram upazila, are deprived of regular health services at the Dahagram-Angarpota 20-bed Hospital.

Sirajul Islam, 55, a resident of Mahishamuri village in Lalmonirhat’s Kaliganj upazila, sits silently outside his modest home, gazing at the remnants of the handloom he sold three years ago. Like his father, the late Mozahar Ali, weaving had been his life’s work since childhood. But now, forced to make ends meet, he earns a living as a day labourer, leaving behind a profession that once defined his identity.

Tobacco cultivation in the Rangpur region has increased significantly this year, with 19,250 hectares of land now under cultivation, up from 13,349 hectares last year, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension.

Ferry services on the Chilmari-Roumari route have been suspended since December 23 last year due to a navigability crisis on the Brahmaputra River.

Boro seedlings in seedbeds across many areas of the Rangpur region are suffering due to a persistent cold wave and dense fog. Farmers are struggling to save their seedbeds by covering them with polythene and spraying medicines, and they are now worried about recovering their production costs.

11 cases have been filed at the police stations and courts in the two districts related to these incidents

The topsoil of vast areas of farmland in the agriculture-based northern districts is being used for manufacturing bricks, causing significant harm to agriculture and the environment.

Farmers in the Rangpur region are facing significant losses despite a bumper cauliflower harvest this season.

The char people in Kurigram and Lalmonirhat are enduring severe suffering due to a biting cold wave that has persisted for two consecutive weeks.

As the chill of winter settles over the Brahmaputra, a spectacular visitor graces its waters: the Chakoa, or Red Crested Pochard.

Jaynal was honoured with the Poet Syed Shamsul Haque "Gunijan Honour" at a ceremony organised by the Poet Syed Shamsul Haque Cultural Club in Uttar Baravita Boi Mor village, Phulbari upazila, Kurigram

Workers enlisted under the scheme have expressed their concerns over the uncertain start of the project