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The residents of Dhaka on Saturday faced severe water stagnation in daylong rain as most of the canals and water bodies remained encroached.
   According to the Meteorological Department, 49 millimetres of rain was recorded in six hours in Dhaka from 6:00am to noon.
   Although the amount of rain is not so heavy, the city dwellers in different areas faced water logging for lack of drainage system, both natural and artificial, WASA sources said.
   The areas which faced water logging most include the Circular Road, Fakirapool, Basabo, Madartek, Badda, Kazipara, some part of Mohammadpur, Thatharibazar, Nazim Uddin Road and Hussaini Dalan Road and some other areas of Old Town and low-lying areas of the eastern fringe. The areas remained submerged under ankle-to-knee deep water for hours.
   Residents of the areas faced serious difficulties for the water logging.
   ‘I faced serious difficulties to go to Fakirapool as I had to wade through knee-deep water at Fakirapool,’ said Jubayer Ahmed, a businessman of the Fakirapool area.
   ‘I had to cross ankle to knee-deep water on Nazimuddin Road at noon,’ said Anis Ahmed, a student of Dhaka University.
   Experts blamed failure of the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority to reclaim grabbed canals and wetlands for the water logging.
   The city dwellers will face tougher situation during heavy downpour than the past years as grabbers are continuously grabbing new canals and wetlands in the city, experts warned.
   WASA pulled down a number of houses and shanties built on 12 canals before and after the monsoon in 2005 but as there were no more drives after that, the encroachment started again.
   Savar, Ashulia and areas on the eastern fringe of the city are continuously being filled up in the name of city development, which resulted in water logging even after light shower.
   A WASA official said encroachment on natural water reservoirs — Katasur Khal (canal), Ramchandpur Khal, Segunbagicha Khal, Jirani Khal, Shahjahanpur Khal, Mohakhali Khal, Debdholai Khal, Kalyanpur Khal, Begunbari Khal and Ibrahimpur Khal — is the major reason of water logging in the city.
   The box culverts, which were constructed at different places, have also remained clogged for lack of cleaning activities, WASA sources said.
   The storm sewerage lines and surface drains of both WASA and Dhaka City Corporation are also not functioning properly for lack of cleaning.
   The corporation has 999.468 kilomnetres of open drains and 1052.19 kilometres of pipe drains while WASA has 240 kilometres of storm sewerage lines, an official of the corporation said.
   WASA sources said encroachment of Katasur Khal is the main cause of water logging in the Rayer Bazar and Mohammadpur areas while encroachment of Ramchandpur Khal causes water logging in the Islambagh, Nawabganj and Hazaribagh area.

Some species of plants at the National Botanical Garden are threatened with extinction due to land-grabbing, stealing, shortages of manpower and fund, and lack of proper care, said a source.
   Meanwhile, different government and private organisations have occupied 20 acres of land of the botanical garden, he said.
   An official concerned said different government and private organisations have continued occupying the land of the garden. ‘Even there is no iron fence to protect plants from theft,’ the official said.
   Admitting the allegations, the director of the garden, Jahir Uddin Ahmed, told New Age that all should aware of reservation of the country’s largest plant resource centre. The garden has 56,125 species of trees, herbs, and shrubs including a collection of aquatic plants which need more care.
   ‘No doubt rare species of trees go into missing for lack of proper care,’ the director said.
   The garden was established on 208 acres of land at Mirpur in 1961. It is divided into 57 sections and managed by the forest department under the environment and forest ministry.
   The government can earn more revenues by enhancing the facilities for the visitors which can help draw a large number of sightseers, the director added saying that a modern propagator and a tissue culture laboratory have been established in the garden for propagation of rare species.
   Besides, rose garden, criss-cross lake, watchtower, artificial waterfall, bridge over the lake, and thousands of migratory birds in winter are main attractions of the botanical garden.
   ‘Without botanists, forest conservators, curators, and researchers, only the gardeners cannot conserve the trees,’ said an official of the garden. The post of clerk, accountant, senior MLSS, and office assistant has been lying vacant for a long time.
   Jahir told New Age on Monday that they need to undertake a project to renovate the cactus house, orchid house, old buildings,
   and even the roads of the garden. ‘We have already proposed a
   Tk 1.11-crore project to the environment and foreign ministry.’
   Most of the canals around the different sections of the garden have dried up, another source said adding that even the lily pond located at the entrance also dried up.
   There are cactus house, lily pond, Amazon lily pond, six lakes, tissue culture research centre, two nurseries, orchid house, two net houses, five shadow rooms, nine visitor’s shadows, three snake corners, eight toilets, two watchtowers, one artificial lake and Padma pond.
   Rare and exotic plant species found in the garden include anthurium (Anthurium crystallinum), camphor (Cinamomum camphora), rabbit fern (Davallia canariensis), dambia (Dombeya spectabilis), white rangan (Ixora superba), little mussanda (Mussaenda luteola), Amazon lily (Victoria amazonica), harhjora (Vitis quadrangularis), African tulip (Spathodea campanulata), sambucuas (Sambucus nigra) and white chandan (Santalum album).
   A curator said the visitors have to face a lot as hawkers, muggers, and even law enforcers cause nuisance. The hawkers are running their business with the help of the ‘food court’ owners.
   A visitor Fazlu Mia, of Keraniganj in Dhaka, on Monday said he had to pay Tk 30 for a bottle of sprite as against the market price of Tk 12. ‘There are many rare species in the garden, but I cannot recognise any of them and read the plates hung at the trees in the absence of guides.’

Most of the roads in and around Barabazar in the Khulna city have remained without repair and maintenance for past few years which might cause accidents any time.
   Unauthorised installations in both sides of most of the roads and frequent dumping of garbage also intensify the sufferings of the pedestrians in using the roads.
   All modes of vehicles ply on the roads amid risks of accidents and the situation turns grave during the rainy season.
   The 30-meter wide West Mekot Road has been shrunk to 10-meter alley because of the unauthorised installations sprawled along.
   The decrepit roads include Jutapatti to Bottala Road, Kalibari Road, Bazar Kalibari Road, Helatala Road and the Clay Road.
   The local people alleged that the city corporation cleaners hardly take away the rampantly thrown garbage— stink of which caused public nuisance.
   Many roads have been narrowed significantly because of the makeshift shops on both sides, Sadhan Kumar Devnath, the general secretary of Khulna Rice Trader’s Association, said.
   A conservancy department official of the Khulna City Corporation denied the allegation of negligence by the cleaners.

The officials reportedly expelled from Darul Ihsan University on Saturday announced that all the examinations of the English department scheduled from today had been postponed for instable political situation.
   They also pushed for their demand for an interim administrator to run the institution smoothly.
   A news release signed by one M Zahirul Islam, who claimed himself as personal assistant to treasurer MA Rashid Khan, said the examinations had been postponed and new schedule would soon be announced.
   ‘The authorities on June 5 have expelled a teacher of the English department and three students,’ the release said, adding ‘We would continue our strike until withdrawal of the expulsion order.’
   ‘An uneasy situation has been prevailing for about the a month and a half as Professor Syed Ali Naki has claimed himself vice-chancellor and expelled us from the university,’ said treasurer M A Rashid Khan.
   ‘Although Naki claimed himself as vice-chancellor, he is neither appointed by the chancellor nor his name is proposed to the education ministry as vice-chancellor,’ Rashid said.
   The university authorities on Saturday told New Age the examinations would be held as per the schedule. ‘The people calling for the strike have no connection with the university and have been expelled earlier,’ said an official.

World Cup fever grips the residents at the University of Dhaka as the event began in Munich on Friday night, with students glued to the television sets in the halls of residence and to the big screen at the Teachers-Students Centre.
   There was hardly any space inside the Teachers-Students Centre where the city corporation arranged a big screen for students to watch the matches. The first-day crowd was so huge that the authorities are now planning to check identity cards of the students during big matches.
   The residents of the Salimullah Hall laid siege to the provost’s residence before the beginning of the World Cup opener demanding that he should arrange a large-screen television set. The students earlier demanded a projection television, but the administration arranged a normal set.
   The national flags of major World Cup participants — Brazil, Argentina, France and Germany — now flutter in each of the halls. Late-night processions and teasing the supporters of other participants have become common.
   As the World Cup began, the residents of the university started extending noisy support for their favourite team. Fans of the hot favourites such as Brazil and Argentina were more ceremonial. They decorated the halls with flags of the World Cup challengers. The administrations are a bit annoyed at the supporters as the walls, white-washed few days ago, became covered with graffiti of different sizes and shapes.
   The students are now on summer vacation for the month, which coincidentally covered the world’s biggest sporting event. Many enthusiasts are happy that they could watch all the matches at night.
   The students the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology could defer all their examinations, scheduled during the World Cup, through agitation. ‘We did it because if the exams were on, none of us could watch the matches,’ said a resident of MA Rashid Hall. The hall residents have arranged a large-screen plasma television set to watch the matches.
   ‘Which team will win the cup?’ and ‘which team are really in a good shape to win the title?’ have remained the topics of discussion at every chat session.
   The regular chat sessions at Madhu’s Canteen turned into a football debate and most student leaders are now leading the supporters’ forums of favourite teams. A giant flag of Germany is fluttering atop the building.
   A grocer at the Surya Sen Hall, Latif Miah, is much annoyed at the large Argentine national flag painted on the shutter of his shop. ‘I am a fan of Brazil and they painted a German flag on my shop.’
   The football enthusiasts at the halls are mainly divided into two groups of supporters of two Latin American teams — the four-time champions Brazil, associated with names such as Pele and Zico and the two-time champions Argentina, who came to the limelight with the emergence of Diego Maradona in 1986.
   In many halls, fan clubs of supporters have also been formed to launch various activities. Supporters of both the teams raised money and billed posters. One of those says, ‘If you love football, you must support Argentina.’ ‘Football means one and the only team —Brazil’ reads the other.
   Everyone became prepared to watch the World Cup matches. In the halls where the television set is a bit old, the students are pressing the authorities to buy a new one for the World Cup.
   Some students have bought very small television sets or subscribed to cable network for their computer systems with television cards installed to watch the matches sitting in their rooms, undisturbed.

The Chittagong Port Authority has taken a Tk 200 crore project to construct a five-kilometer flyover for faster cargo transport and for easing traffic congestion in the city.
   The CPA will construct the flyover from the Barik Building crossing to the Export Processing Zone gate on its own expenditure, said sources in the CPA adding no toll would, however, be collected from the public transports for using the flyover.
   On completion of the project, the existing road stretch from the Barik Building crossing to the EPZ gate would be reserved only for the vehicles carrying goods to and from the port, the sources said.
   More than 5,000 trucks and lorries and several thousand public transports ply on the route everyday causing severe traffic congestion and it takes almost two hours to pass the two-km road stretching from the Barik Building crossing to the Customs crossing because of the tailback.
   The CPA chairman, AMM Shahadat Hossain, told New Age that they had discussed the matter with the Chittagong Development Authority and
   the Chittagong City Corporation, two concerned bodies for any construction in the city, and they had responded positively.

A two-day workshop organised by the South Asian Alliance for Poverty Eradication ended in Dhaka on Saturday with a call for access for the poor to food.
   Politicians, NGO activists and former bureaucrats joined the discussion on food sovereignty.
   Speaking as chief guest, Awami League lawmaker and member of the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture, Abdur Razzaq, said farmers are not getting adequate subsidy in the agriculture sector.
   As a result, the farmers are lagging behind in competition with those in the USA, the European countries and the neighbouring countries where farmers are getting huge subsidies, he said.
   The workshop recommended that access to food for poverty-stricken people, especially in the famine and disaster prone areas, should be ensured.

Light to moderate rain or thunder shower accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely at most places all over Bangladesh with moderately heavy to heavy rainfall at places over the Khulna, Barisal, Dhaka and Chittagong divisions till 6:00pm today, said the Met Office in a forecast on Saturday.
   Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged during the period. The highest temperature on Saturday, 32.4 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Dinajpur and the lowest, 23.3 degrees Celsius, at Sandwip.
   The sun sets in the capital city at 6:46pm today and will rise at 5:10am on Monday.

Two held with hijacked autorickshaw
The detective police Friday night arrested two suspected members of a gang of carjackers from the Dhaka city’s Babubazar area and seized a hijacked autorickshaw from their possession. The police said the two — Delwar Hossain alias Humayun Kabir and Liton Miah along with others — hijacked the autorickshaw about 10 days ago. The two were being interrogated at the DB police office.

English conversation competition held
Twenty-five students of the International English Academy were given certificate for English conversation competition on Friday. Authorities of the International English Academy at Mirpur Section 10 in Dhaka organised the competition on different topics. A good number of students from Class VI to Class VIII took part in the competition. The certificate giving ceremony held at the academy’s auditorium was chaired by its chief adviser MA Mazed while directors M Abdul Khaleq Bhuiyan and Anwar Hossain Bhuiyan also spoke. Chief lecturer of the academy M Nurul Islam Bhuiyan conducted the function.
— New Age