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Nearly two million people have become marooned as unplanned urbanisation left the rainwater of the past few days trapped inside the Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra Protection Embankment.
   The urbanisation, which is taking place rapidly in the DND irrigation project, posed a severe threat to the project as well as to the people in the area, an official of Bangladesh Water Development Board said.
   Most of the roads and lanes and many houses in DND embankment area have gone under rainwater.
   Inundation is a common phenomenon during the rainy season every year, but this year more areas have become waterlogged, said the local people, most of whom have settled there in the last 20 years.
   The waterlogged areas include Kajla, Matuail, Dania, Konapara, Basherpul, Dogair, Deilla, Hajinagar, Tengra, east and west Boksnagar in Demra, and Shanarpar, Nemaikashari, Bagmara, Kadaltali, Rasulbagh, Jalkuri, Bhuigarh, Delpara, Lamapara, Tusharpara, Pathantali and Godenail of Siddhirganj in Narayanganj.
   New buildings are being constructed without any drainage and sewerage system in the DND area, resulting in flooding of the area, in which a dam was built in the Pakistan days for facilitating irrigation.
   To prevent water logging the Bangladesh Water Development Board launched a drive to recover the grabbed canals in DND in 2004. They could reclaim some portions of the canals from the land grabbers, local people said.
   Four high-powered pumps of the BWDB are in operation round the clock to pump out rainwater into the river Sitlakkhya at Shimrail in Siddhirganj police station of Narayanganj, M Nurun Nabi, sub-divisional engineer, Dhaka Mechanical Division of BWDB, told New Age on Saturday.
   ‘We are trying our best to pump out the water from many areas. The trapped water of many parts cannot reach our drainage canal as there are many blocks constructed by the people between the canals and adjacent areas,’ Nurun Nabi said.
   The total area of DND is 56.79 square kilometres. About 85pc of the land has been used for constructing houses, mills, factories and roads, while the rest 15 per cent is still cultivable, added BWDB sources.
   Meanwhile, the past alliance government had adopted a Tk 233 crore project for drainage of the DND project areas, following the 2005 flooding when water remained stagnated for several months. But the project has not been implemented yet.

The decomposed body of a minor girl, reportedly strangulated by her stepfather along with his accomplices, was recovered at Shyampur in the Dhaka city early Saturday.
   The victim was identified as Arifa Begum, 6, daughter of Alamgir Hossain of Nama Shyampur area.
   According to the police and the family, Jasmine Begum, a garment worker and also the mother of the victim, left his first husband two years back and married one Russel Ahmed of Shyampur area.
   After their marriage, Russel proposed Jasmine to keep Arifa anywhere else, but she didn’t agree with the proposal.
   On her return from the workplace, Sikim Apparels located at Shyampur, on June 12, Jasmine did not find Arifa in the house.
   She later came to know form her neighbours that Russel along with local miscreants Sajib, Ujjal and Mostafa had picked Arifa from the house in the evening.
   As Russel did not return home on the night, Jasmine filed a case with Shyampur police the following day.
   A team of detective police with the help of Shyampur police arrested Mostafa and Sajib on Friday night from Nama Shyampur area on charge of abducting Arifa.
   During, interrogation the arrested confessed that they had strangulated Arifa soon after the abduction and dumped the body under Shyampur WASA pond.
   Based on their statements, the police recovered the decomposed body of Arifa early Saturday and sent it to the Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital morgue for a post-mortem examination. The police however, failed to arrest Russel.

In the absence of the elected mayor of Barisal City Corporation, Majibor Rahman Sarwar, all kinds of administrative works, including the payment of salaries of the officials and staff, have become stalled.
   Sarwar, also a former lawmaker and district BNP president, was arrested from his Dhaka residence on May 29 and sent to jail with one-month detention under the Special Powers Act.
   After his arrest, the authorities have yet to give the charge of mayor to anyone.
   BCC has 1,193 regular and daily-basis employees, including 11 Class I officers, 17 Class II, 282 Class III and 171 Class IV employees, 265 labourers and 217 sweepers.
   Altaf Hossain Sikdar, commissioner of Ward 21 and head of the finance sub-committee of BCC, said the crisis intensified after banks had refused payment against the checks signed by Sarwar before his arrest.
   Moreover, huge amount of funds, including Tk 8 crore grants, would be returned if the money cannot be collected by June 21.
   Meanwhile, an order has been issued for the transfer of BCC chief administrative officer Abdul Mannan. Mannan said he had not yet received the transfer order and hoped that the acting mayor of BCC would be selected on emergency basis to solve the problems.

Prices of most essential commodities including vegetables, meat and sugar increased in the Barisal city in the past week.
   The sugar price has gone up with the duty-hike proposal in the import of the essential sweetener in the national budget, but the prices of cooking oil and lentil did not fall despite the proposal for duty-reduction in their import.
   The sugar price increased by Tk 2 per kilogram and it was selling at Tk 32 in the city markets on Saturday.
   Per litre of loose cooking oil was selling between Tk 71 and 74 while that of packed or bottled one was up to Tk 80.
   Prices of vegetables increased between 10 per cent and 20 per cent for what the traders attributed to the heavy downpour of the past week.
   In the city markets, per kilogram of bitter gourd was on Saturday selling at Tk 14, ladies finger at Tk 16, kakrol at Tk 18, patal at Tk 10, snake gourd at Tk 12, tomato at Tk 18, aubergine at Tk 16, papaya at Tk 8, and potato was selling at Tk 20.
   Per kilogram of onion was selling at Tk 20, garlic at Tk 62 and turmeric at Tk 50.
   The price of eggs also increased by up to Tk 8 per dozen to sell at Tk 60 per dozen.
   Broiler and beef were stable at the earlier prices at Tk 90 and Tk 180 per kilogram respectively, up by Tk 5 to Tk 10 from the previous week.
   The prices of rice were also stable over the week. The coarse variety of IRRI-19 was seeling at Tk 21 per kilogram while IRRI-28, swarna bullet and bhajan at Tk 22 and bullet was selling at Tk 23. Fine variety miniket and nazirshail were selling at Tk 28 per kilogram.

The initiative to modernise the Gulistan Park (Shaheed Matiur Park) has been shelved for over one year as the advisory committee has yet to get the president’s decision about the existing road that intersected the park.
   ‘We could not go for the modernisation of the park as we have not yet get any response [positive or negative] from the president about stopping traffic on the road in the parkland,’ an official at the Dhaka City Corporation said.
   The advisory committee, headed by Professor Serajul Islam Chowdhury, was formed in 2006 to put forward their suggestions for the enhancement of the beauty of the park.
   Following the recommendation of the committee, a letter was sent to the president, Iajuddin Ahmed, on April 27, 2006, seeking his permission to open the road in the western side of Bangabhaban and close the road that had divided the park, the corporation official said adding that the committee was still waiting for the president’s reply.
   The total planning of the park is now depending on the president’s reply, said the official adding that a technical committee, headed by the corporation’s chief engineer, had also been formed to prepare a design, including land development, enhancing different facilities, construction of walkways and development of the pond and drainage system.
   The committee has already prepared a draft of an integrated development plan, but the final plan and estimated cost will be prepared after getting the president’s decision about the road, said the official.
   The park is still in a pitiable condition and a safe heaven for floating sex workers, drug peddlers, vagabonds and muggers.
   Sex workers and drug peddlers have been using the park as their habitat or working place. Muggers of adjoining areas often take shelter to the park, he said.
   Some vagrants in the park said the drug peddlers and their accomplices use the park to push and to take drug safely.
   With the darkness creeping in, floating sex workers start roaming in and around the park in pursuit of customers, said a vendor in the area.
   Once the Gulistan Park was a big one, but the authorities closed the road in the western side of the Bangabhaban during the first SAARC summit and constructed a road dividing the park.
   The corporation, which is the regulatory body to maintain the park, also constructed Mohanagar Natyamancha on a large portion of the park land.
   A police box and a mosque were also constructed on the park further shrinking the park.
   A corporation official said some people, who were in the committee of the mosque, was trying to use the parkland in commercial purposes in the name of the mosque.

Bangladesh Ibsen Society arranged a discussion programme on Henrik Ibsen, marking his 101st anniversary of death at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka on Saturday.
   Norwegian ambassador to Bangladesh Ingebjorg Stofring attended the discussion as chief guest. Sonia Nishat Amin and Kajal Bandyopadhyay discussed about Ibsen works and noted novelist Selina Hossain delivered the address of welcome at the function with Professor Khan Sarwar Murshid in the chair.
   Ingebjorg Stofring said, ‘In terms of the number of plays Ibsen is considered the second to Shakespeare and it is encouraging that more and more Bangladeshi intellectuals and readers are reading the great Norwegian dramatist. Norway always looks forward to promoting the Ibsen heritage in this country.’
   Selina Hossain said, ‘The newly formed Ibsen Society will play an important role familiarising and translating Ibsen’s works in Bangla.’
   Kajal Bandyopadhyay said, ‘In connection with the Ibsen Commemoration 2006 in Bangladesh three books were published including two edited by Selina Hossain and another one Ibsen’s Poetry in Bangla by young poet Anisur Rahman. Other programmes included staging of Ibsen plays and arranging seminars in the country,’ he added.
   Sonia Nishat Amin reminisced about her experience in the 11th International Ibsen Conference in Oslo last year.
   Khondakar Ashraf Hossain and Bhaswar Bandyopashyay read and recited from Ibsen’s works.
   Based on the life and works of Ibsen Kamaluddin Nilu wrote a play ‘Resurrection’ which was presented by Centre for Asian Theatre.
    Henrik Ibsen was born on March 20, 1828 in Norway and died on May 23, 1906.

Tense situation was prevailing at Jahangirnagar University as the students confined the provosts of different residential halls over increasing the meal charge at the university.
   The provost of Al-Beruni Hall resigned following the demonstrations of the students, demanding not to increase the meal charge at the dining halls. The authorities reinforced the police and the BDR forces on the campus to avert untoward incidents.
   Preetilata Hall provost Mirza Mafiz Uddin was confined with some house tutors on Friday night by the female students and freed later on. Earlier, the police foiled their views exchange meeting with the university correspondents of different dailies in front of the hall at 4:00pm.
   The students of Al-Beruni Hall kept their hall officials confined for three hours Saturday morning and Professor Lutful Hye Jami provost of the hall resigned.
   Provosts of Maulana Bhasani Hall, Mir Mosarraf Hossain Hall, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall faced the agitation of the students on the issue.
   The students threatened with tougher movement if the authorities did not provide meal at Tk. 8. Following the protests additional police and the BDR personnel were deployed at different points of the campus.
   Students of JU have been boycotting dining since June 11, as the provost committee of the university increased the dining meal charge to Tk.12 from Tk 8.

Robbers ransacked a residence at Shyampur area in the city and allegedly looted cash, gold ornaments and valuables over a land dispute Friday night.
   According to the family members of the victim, a gang of 15 local miscreants, led by Abul Kashem, stormed into the residence of Hasi Villa, located at 1092, Mirajnagar, Block-C, in Shyampur owned by one Zakir Hossain at around 10:00pm.
   The gang confined the family members to a room at gunpoint and looted Tk. 2.20 lakh, 30 tolas of gold ornaments, one motorbike, deep-freeze and a colour television worth Tk. 8.5 lakh.
   The owner of the house, Zakir Hossain alleged that Abul Kashem tried to forcibly occupy his 10 kathas of land and filed a case over the matter, which is under trial in High Court. Sensing loss in the legal battle Kashem and others attacked the house.

Light to moderate rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely at most places over Rajshahi, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions and at a few places over Dhaka and Khulna division with moderately heavy to heavy falls at places during the 24-hour period till 6:00pm today, the Met Office said on Saturday.
   The day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country, the Met office added.
   As the monsoon remains active over southern and northeaster part of Bangladesh, heavy to very heavy rainfall may occur at places over Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions during the 24 hours commencing from 2:00pm Saturday.
   The country’s highest temperature on Saturday, 34.5 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Chuadanga and the lowest, 23.1 degrees Celsius, in Sandwip.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:48pm and rises tomorrow at 5:11am.

Worker dies falling off rooftop in Sylhet
A sanitary worker died after falling from the rooftop of a building in Jallarpar area of the Sylhet city Thursday afternoon. Yusuf Ali, 25, of Aligaon village in Charfashion upazila of Bhola, fell from the rooftop of the six-storey building when he was repairing the sanitary line at about 2:00pm, the police said. He was taken to the Osmani Medical College Hospital where the doctors declared him dead. An unnatural death case filed with the Kotwali police in this connection. The police also rescued hanging body of a young man from his residence in Dhopadighirpar area of the city on the day. The police suspected that Nikhil Chakravarti, 25, of Shibpasha in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj, committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan Wednesday night.
— UNB