Sifayet Ullah

Defying law, shipbreakers in Chattogram are breaking scrap vessels without obtaining clearance from the Department of Environment (DoE), putting the environment at risk. 

Youth's ambitious pursuits end with tragic demise

Nipa’s life was never easy. At the age of eight, she was abandoned by both her parents, who went into hiding to avoid having to repay their increasing debts, leaving her and her baby sisters behind.

Chattogram city dwellers will have to bear the nuisance of sewage pollution in the Karnaphuli and Halda rivers even longer, as the completion deadline for the Sewerage Treatment Plant-1 project has been extended.

Unloading of goods from larger vessels at the outer anchorage of Chattogram Port remains suspended due to rough seas since Friday, while trade at the Khatunganj-Chaktai wholesale hub has dropped significantly.

The project of establishing a railway link connecting the under-construction Bay Terminal of Chattogram seaport with the city’s Halishahar area is still in limbo, due to delay in conducting the feasibility test.

“I don’t have to waste hours in traffic anymore thanks to the newly-constructed Bakalia Access Road,” said Sajeda Akter, a school teacher, who used to get late for work regularly due to gridlock at Kotwali intersection while travelling from Chattogram’s Karnaphuli upazila to the city’s Chawkbazar.

A home to around two lakh people, South Pahartali area under ward-1 within Chattogram City Corporation is grappling with a severe lack of civic amenities.

For the last three years, Enamul Haque, a resident of Halishahar’s Chowdhury Para in the port city, has been suffering from waterlogging.

The doors and windows of Borhan Uddin’s rented apartment, located in the port city’s Ruby Gate area, have to remain closed most of the time to prevent toxic gases emitted from Saleh Steel Industries Limited from entering the place.

The Tulatoli area under Chattogram’s Sitakunda used to boast a lush green forest, home to numerous trees.

In a blatant disregard for environmental regulations, a vested quarter is reportedly engaged in cutting a hill in Charamba Union in Chattogram’s Lohagara upazila for constructing houses.

Muzibul Haque, a government employee and resident of Chandanish upazila in Chattogram, used to commute by train on Chattogram-Dohazari route to his workplace in the port city on a regular basis.

In terms of festivities, Eid-ul-Azha has always had a special place in homemaker Shamsun Nahar’s heart, a resident of South Pahartali under Chattogram’s Hathazari upazila.

From the eighties till the 2000s, Rabeya Begum, a home-maker from Chattogram’s Hathazari upazila had no refrigerators at their house. So whenever Eid-ul-Azha came around, she had to opt for a unique technique to preserve the meat -- by making Qhwab.

Babun Das, a farmer from Barailia union under Chattogram’s Patiya upazila, had to face serious trouble to access water for crops as the Chankhali canal, located near his paddy field, was filled up.

A vested quarter has been accused of cutting hills in Chattogram’s Dharmapur union of Fatikchhari upazila, to construct a chicken shed.

Mochud Doula, a 70-year-old businessman, has been living in the port city’s Pahartali area for the past 42 years. Since 2012, he has been hearing promises that the European Club would be converted into Pritilata memorial museum soon.

The port city’s first multi-storey car parking, located in New Market area, is lying idle for around a year due to a mechanical failure and a shortage of operators. This has led to regular traffic congestion in front of the market.

The  five-kilometre embankment in Musapur union of Sandwip upazila was repaired in 2008. But the union has lost a vast area of its land to the sea due to erosion, since no further renovation work has been done.