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Hundreds of women, children and elderly, evicted from the Adarsha Slum at Dhalpur in Dhaka on Thursday are living in the open.
   The Dhaka City Corporation demolished the slum, well known as Bangabandhu slum, at Demra violating a High Court stay order.
   At least 10,000 slum dwellers are forced to lived under the open sky, near the Sauedabad Water Treatment Plant.
   The slum dwellers, mostly day labourers, rickshaw van pullers, domestic helps and garment workers lost almost all of their moveable property in the drive. Whatever they managed to salvage was taken away by local hoodlums and muggers.
   ‘My rickshaw puller husband was killed in a road accident on March 3, 2005 and after his death I was staying, along with my three little children, in a shanty. I worked hard as a domestic maid, but now with my shelter gone, it has become very hard,’ said Monowara.
   ‘I was at work in a garment at Alam Market in Jatrabari, when the eviction drive started and all my belongings and clothes were looted before I could reach the spot,’ said Mariam Begum.
   ‘I was at the butcher’s shop where I work at Dhalpur Bazar when the eviction drive was launched but I could not recover a single thing,’ said Gani Mia, a butcher of the Dhalpur Bazar. ‘As soon as I brought out a bundle of belongings from my shanty onto the road, local goons looted them,’ he said.
   ‘We are bound to stay under the open sky as my two sons look for shanties to be rented. But it is the middle of the month, there will be hardly any place to rent,’ said Amena Begum, a slum resident of 15 years.
   The slum dwellers said nobody came forward to help them. They said even when some leaders of the opposition party came to sympathise on Saturday the police charged batons on them and arrested four.
   The locals alleged that the slum dwellers were evicted as they reportedly voted the Awami League lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury during the last parliament elections.
   ‘We picked four persons from the spot to take the situation under control but later we released them as no case was filed,’ said Abul Kalam, duty officer of the Demra police station.
   Badal Sardar, local commissioner of the area told New Age, ‘The slum dwellers were illegally staying on the land of the Dhaka City Corporation and we launched the drive to build a sweepers’ colony there.’

The Dhaka City Corporation has started demolishing the Dhaka gate at Banani to extend the road.
   ‘It is a part of our decision to set up a Dhaka gate at Tongi, the entrance of the city, demolishing the old gate, and the process to set up the new gate is under way,’ said the corporation’s chief engineer, Idris Miyan.
   The corporation has taken initiative to set up five gates at five entrance points of the city.
   ‘We have taken the initiative to set up the gate at Tongi,’ said the chief town planner, Sirajul Islam.
   The gate has been constructed following a decision of a meeting of good governance and development at the Prime Minister’s Office last year. The meeting decided to construct the five gates.
   He said initially the corporation planned to construct a gate at Togi near the Tangi Bridge and other gates would be constructed after successful completion of the Tongi gate.
   The first Dhaka gate was built at three points near the graves of three national leaders on the Dhaka University campus.
   It was set up by Mir Jumla, the subehdar of Bengal during 1660–1663, to guard the provincial capital, which he re-established after moving out from Rajmahal, according to Banglapedia, the National Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh.
   Mir Jumla had to guard the city and its suburbs from attacks of the Maghs. He built two roads connecting Dhaka to a network of forts to send troops for the defence of the city and he built the gate at one end.
   The brick gate was damaged in course of time and the Dhaka collector, Charles D’Oyly, renovated the gate during his tenure in 1808–1817.

The government has demarked sites for two new wholesale kitchen markets in Dhaka city to provide convenient market places for both consumers and traders, said, city mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka, on Monday.
   ‘Sites for two wholesale markets, out of four to be established in the city, selected,’ disclosed Khoka, at a meeting with the leaders of the Dhaka Metropolitan Small Fish and Kutchabazar Traders Association.
   A city corporation official later told New Age that, the concerned authorities would soon initiate acquiring of lands for two markets- one demarcated besides the Dhaka-Demra highway near Jatrabari and other in Aminbazar, near Gabtali.
   The official said the government was looking for lands for two other soon to be established markets — one in southern part of the city, possibly in Keraniganj area, and other in the northern part around Uttara.
   He said an inter-ministerial committee, headed by the LGRD minister, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, had selected the market sites following a government decision taken a couple of years back, to establish six wholesale markets in an around the city.
   In the day’s meeting, small traders demanded to the mayor of improving the facilities in the existing markets, especially ensuring hygiene, sewerage system and car parking facilities.
   They also demanded eviction of footpath vendors, who according to them cause inconvenience to the customers coming in the markets.
   The traders urged the mayor to check illegal toll collections by the police and goons from small traders.
   The mayor assured the traders that the corporation would carry out maintenance and development activities in the existing kitchen markets.
   Anwar Hossain Sikder, president of the association claimed that about 65,000 small fish and vegetable traders, in more than 200 kitchen markets in the city, including 109 of them owned by the city corporation, suffered from the problems.

The development of the lake located at Khilgaon Bagicha and North Shahjahanpur has almost come to a standstill within a month of the beginning of the works on February 10.
   The Public Works Department took the Tk 5 crore project under which a graveyard, two bridges, a children's park, a footbridge and side-walks along the lake, known as Khilgaon Lake, will be constructed.
   The lake, which has almost been filled up for no maintenance in the past 35 years, will also be dredged under the project, works of which are scheduled to be completed by June.
   Although the housing and public works minister, Mirza Abbas, inaugurated the project works on January 22, it actually began on February 10 and almost stopped within a month, the local people alleged.
   We found some workers pulling down the structures on both sides of the lake since the beginning of the works on February 10, but no work is being done in and alongside the lake in the past couple of weeks, they added.
   The local ward commissioner, Mirza Khokon, however, claimed that the works were going on and it would be completed within the stipulated time.
   ‘The lake got almost filled up and its water polluted with household, commercial, clinical wastes,’ he said adding ‘On completion of the project, the residents of the area will get relief from bad smell and the entire area will change its look.’
   At this stage, we will dredge the lake that contains about 7-foot layer of wastes and then the other works, he said.
   ‘We have also a plan to construct a community centre alongside the lake and it will take time,’ he said adding the graveyard would be constructed on 12 bighas of land in the west side.
   The two bridges will link Khilgaon Bagicha with North Shahjahanpur and also reduce the distance of the two areas with the Bishwa Road, Khokon said.

The Greater Rangpur Students Forum of Rajshahi University on Monday brought out a silent procession in the campus demanding immediate arrest and punishment to the killers of the university’s geology and mining department teacher professor Sayeed Taher Ahmed and economics department teacher professor Muhammad Yunus.
   They submitted a memorandum to the RU vice-chancellor, Altaf Hossain, at his office and demanded immediate investigation of Taher murder case and arrest of absconding killers.
   Meanwhile, RU unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League on the day alleged that some Jamaat-Shibir supported newspapers published fabricated news accusing many of their unit leaders of killing Taher Ahmed.
   At a press conference inside the campus, they also protested against the news and demanded arrest of Shibir leader Mahbub Alam Salehi.
   They threatened for tougher agitation programmes, if Salehi was not arrested and punished.
   The RU BCL president, Ibrahim Hossain Moon, general secretary Ayeen Uddin, and join secretary Masud Rana, were also present during the press conference.

Despite having no fitness certificates, road permit and other necessary papers, a number of motor vehicles are plying the roads in the city’s posh Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara areas.
   Sources said the police did not take action against the vehicles and its operators although specific allegations had been were lodged with the offices concerned.
   They alleged that these vehicles were running with police cooperation and this is why they do not take action against them.
   The sources said five persons – Abdul Aziz, Kamal Uddin, Masudur Rahman Faruq, Asaduzzaman and Siraj, took seven India-made taxis from the Western Motors to operate transport services on certain routes in Dhaka.
   The operators took the vehicles under hire-purchase system three years back and running the vehicles without valid documents, sources said adding that the drivers, who have no driving licences, are operating the vehicles.
   The taxi provider, Western Motors, asked the operators to have required papers and documents, but it ignored the advice.
   In reply the operators told Western Motors that if the police and traffic men are managed, no license, fitness certificate and route permit is needed to run vehicles on the roads.
   Mohammad Afzal Hossain, proprietor of Western Motors, told the news agency that on March 14, he submitted a written complaint to the DMP commissioner, DC-traffic and AC of the Gulshan zone. But police did not go for any action against the operators, he added.
   When asked, the DMP commissioner, SM Mizanur Rahman, said he could not remember any such allegation placed to him in writing. A copy of the complaint with receipt note and seal is, however, available with the news agency.
   He said such matters are usually reviewed by the Road Transport Committee. The DMP commissioner is the chairman of the committee.
   The commissioner said the RTC had a meeting on March 20. But no such thing was discussed at the meeting, he added.

The four-day Housing Fair will be held from March 24 at the Sylhet Indoor Gymnasium.
   Apart from the real estate developers, construction material producers would participate at the fair, jointly organised by the Real Estate and Apartment Association of Sylhet and Bangladesh Real Estate Directory. The fair is expected to house 50 stalls, said the organisers.
   The secretary of the Public Works Ministry, Iqbal Uddin Chowdhury, is expected to attend at the opening session as chief guest and president of the Bangladesh real estate association, Tofique M Seraj, is expected as special guest.
   Sylhet mayor Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran will attend the concluding session as chief guest, said the organisers at a ‘meet the press’ session on Monday afternoon at a hotel in Sylhet.

The caretaker and gatekeeper of the collapsed building of Phoenix Group were on Monday placed on two-day remand.
   The Detective Branch of police placed caretaker Jahangir Alam and gatekeeper Ibrahim to the court of metropolitan magistrate, Shafiq Anwar, and sought five-day remand for each, but the magistrate granted two-day.
   The building at Tejgaon in the capital collapsed on February 25 killing at least 21 people and injured over 50 others. The gate remained closed during the accident and workers was trapped inside the debris as they could not come out, the police told the court.

Under the Water and Sanitation Rehabilitation Support to the Flood Affected Slums in Dhaka City project of the Coalition for the Urban Poor with the financial support of UNICEF, some hardwire establishments and soft wire activities were inaugurated at the Karail slum at Gulshan on Monday.
   The state minister for ministry of expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment, Mohammed Quamrul Islam, was chief guest of the programme.
   Among others, commissioner of the Ward 19 of the Dhaka City Corporation AUM Abdul Alim Noki and project officer WES section of UNICEF Birendra Srestha were present.
   Executive director of the coalition’s executive committee ANM Imam Hasnat presided over the inauguration ceremony.
   The chief guest thanked the coalition and UNICEF as this initiative would be effective for the slum dwellers for post flood water and sewerage management.
   Project director of department of Public Health Engineering Dewan Nakib Ahsan also attended the programme conducted by executive director of the coalition, Mostofa Kayum Khan.

Weather is likely to remain mainly dry over the country till 6:00pm today.
   Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country, the Met Office said in a forecast. The highest temperature on Monday, 35.4 degree Celsius, was recorded in Jessore and the lowest 12.6 degrees, at Srimangal.
   The sun sets in the capital at 6:10pm today and rises at 6:01am on Wednesday.

The state minister for education, ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milan, on Monday said the business enterprises and manufacturers should produce goods of international standard in order to cope with the free-market economy.
   ‘If they do not produce goods of international standard, the domestic markets will be occupied by others and thus the production will suffer,’ Milan said while addressing as chief guest at a meeting at CIRDAP auditorium in the capital.
   Jointly organised by the University of Asia Pacific, Water Lab and Pratipalak Society, the meeting was chaired by UAP vice-chancellor Abdul Matin Patwari.
   University Grants Commission chairman professor M Asaduzzaman, also spoke as the special guest.
   The state minister also stressed upon the need for a social movement to prevent food adulteration. AKM Mostafa Anwar presented the keynote paper in the function.

The CICT certificate giving ceremony of the North South University was held at the Hotel Sarina on Sunday.
   The minister for commerce, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury MP, attended the programme as chief guest while the NSU Foundation vice-chairman, Benajir Ahmed, was present as special guest.
   The North South University vice-chancellor, Dr Hafiz GA Siddiqui, chaired the event. CSE department chairman Dr Miftahur Rahman, Dr Abdul Awal, Dr Khaled Mahmud and participants Abdullah Al Mamun also spoke on the occasion.
   A total of 5 participants took part in the programme.
   The minister said in the recent past the ICT sector in Bangladesh has grown rapidly and in the near future the country would be in competition with the perennial giants.

Dr Md Abdul Ghani, a renowned professional in engineering and technology, has recently joined in the Eastern University as an executive director of the Centre for Research and Development.
   Before joining this position, Dr Ghani held important posts in national and international organisations.
   Dr Ghani has 32 years of experience and advised the government agencies, NGOs and other divisions of the World Bank on special issues and in agriculture, water, forestry, livestock and fisheries sectors.
   Dr Ghani did his B.Sc in agricultural engineering from the Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh and M.Engg degree from the Asia Institute of Technology, Bangkok.

Fire Service and Civil Defence to launch drive
The Fire Service and Civil Defence Department will launch a special drive from April 1 to take action against those who did not take license from the department before using a building or land as warehouse, factory or shop for combustible substances. The department made the decision following the recent fire incidents in garments factories and buildings that caused huge loss to lives and properties, said a press release of the department.
— UNB

NDF new committee
A 43-member central committee for the National Debate Federation was formed at the Daffodil University recently. The committee will serve for a two-year term. AKM Shoyeb has been made chairman of the federation while Partha Sanjay secretary general. Advocate Shafiqul Islam, Anwarul Haq Bhuiyan, Fazle Elahi, Rashedul Islam Pallab, Mahbubur Rahman, ABM Muhtasim Billah Khan, Ranjan Kumar Das, M Enamul Huq Jewle were made the co-chairmen, said a release.
— New Age