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Experts at a dialogue in Dhaka on Wednesday underscored the need for mainstreaming strategic environmental planning in urban development for greater Dhaka to meet the twin challenges of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation.
   They also identified institutional gaps as a major hindrance to planned development of the Dhaka city and recommended four sets of policy actions that will eventually help keep pace with increasing urbanisation.
   Strengthening of regulatory mechanisms, improving governance, expanding infrastructure development, and engaging with weak and vulnerable groups are the four sets of recommendations that came during the policy dialogue on ‘mainstreaming strategic environmental planning in urban development for greater Dhaka’.
   The environment and forest adviser, CS Karim, and Adriana Damianova, South Asia Sustainable Development, Environment, World Bank participated in the inaugural session of the dialogue, chaired by Professor Ainun Nishat of IUCN.
   A number of key policymakers from various agencies, such as the Dhaka WASA, Dhaka City Corporation, and Department of Environment, representatives from the Centre for Urban Studies, and law enforcing agencies, participated in the policy dialogue, organised by the World Bank.
   The speakers stressed the need for a set of policy directives for urban planning with a focus on strategy for land use.
   They suggested for improving transparency of institutions by making internal planning, procurement, and other development through a mandatory disclosure of information. Close examination of Environment Impact Assessment procedures to make it more effective was also recommended.
   Recommendations also came for acquiring updated information on six key sectoral areas — land development, water supply, waste management, pollution management, transportation and industrial development.
   They also suggested revising paurasava mandates for implementing plans in developing fringe areas.

Hawkers are enjoying a toll-free business opportunity on the footpaths in Dhaka this Ramadan without any disturbance or claim for toll by extortionists, influential quarters and even by the law enforcers.
   Street vendors, initially shocked by eviction drives that threw them out of business since mid-January, now look happy with daily turnovers from their shops on the footpaths at 18 points alongside the 10 holiday markets.
   A number of the wayside hawkers said they had to pay between Tk 20,000 and 30,000 to influential quarters, mostly activists of different political parties, and the law enforcers for a space (for a makeshift shop) in every Ramadan.
   But this year, they have not paid even a single penny to anybody for sitting on the footpath ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, they added.
   The politically influential quarters and their henchmen have either been arrested or are on the run while the ongoing anti-corruption drive has compelled the law enforcers to be very cautious, a group of hawkers said, adding that all these have created scopes for them to continue business toll-free.
   The 18 places where hawkers are now allowed to sit every day are Jurine, Postagola, Jatrabari, Motijheel, Gulistan, Baitul Mokarram, Doel Chattar, Farmgate, New Market, Mohakhali Amtali, Mirpur Staduium, Mirpur-1 (Shah Ali majar area), Gabtali, Mirpur-11, Mirpur Roquiah Sarani, Gulshan-1, Mirpur Islami Bank premises and Uttara Rajuk playground.
   Md Waliullah Patwary alias Ledu Mia, president of Bangladesh Sammilita Footpath Hawkers Parishad, said, ‘We thank the government for giving us the opportunity to do business on the footpaths for the month of Ramadan.’
   He also appreciated the interim government’s decision to give identity cards to the hawkers in the city.
   ‘Excepting for this year, we used to pay toll every Ramadan for doing business on the footpaths to the local influential people like ward commissioner or people backed different influential politicians and the policemen, he said.
   ‘As we do not need to pay any toll this year, we are being able to offer prices lower than that of the past years,’ a hawker told this correspondent at Gulistan on Wednesday.
   Regarding the sale, he said, ‘Our sale is well as people of different strata come to the footpath shops for cheaper rates.’
   People of lower, lower-middle, middle and even upper-middle classes buy different kind of garments like shirts, trousers, kids wear, shoes, shorts, shocks, sandal, panjabi, salwar-kamiz, perfume, ornaments and cosmetics from roadside shops in the capital.
   Although hawkers arrange their shops in almost all areas in the city, huge crowds draw in areas like Gulistan, Baitul Mokarram, Motijheel, Purana Paltan, Naya Paltan, Kakrail, Shantinagar, Mouchak, Malibagh, Moghbazar, New Market-Gaushia, New Elephant Road, in front of Bashundhara Shopping Complex, Farmgate, Mahakhali and Mirpur.
   A shirt is available on the footpath shops at price ranging between Tk 120 and Tk 150, trousers between Tk 200 and Tk 250, panjabi between Tk 120 and Tk 150, T-shirt between Tk 60 and Tk 150, a pair of sandals or shoes between Tk 120 and Tk 250 and salwar-kamiz between Tk 220 and Tk 300, according to hawkers.
   Goods of better quality and of higher prices are also available in such shops, they added.
   One Quaium, who was shopping at Gulistan, said, ‘I have bought a shirt from the footpath at Tk 150 and the same shirt is selling for as low as Tk 250 in any stores.’
   According to the Sammilita Footpath Hawkers’ Parishad, there are around one lakh street vendors, including the seasonal hawkers, doing business on 163 kilometers of footpaths in the city.
   During Ramadan, the number of street vendors goes up, they said.

The hearing in the case filed against six teachers of Rajshahi University on charge of violating the Emergency Powers Rules and instigating the students for agitation on the campus continued for the 2nd day on Wednesday.
   The speedy trial tribunal judge SM Fazlul Karim Chowdhury took the depositions from the officer-in-charge of the Motihar police station Khandaker Ferdous Ahmed, a university guard and a shop owner.
   Of them, former vice-chancellor Saidur Rahman Khan, Progressive Teachers’ Society convener Abdus Sobhan, and management teacher Moloy Kumar Bhowmik were picked up on August 24.
   Besides, Selim Reza Newton, Dulal Chandra Biswas and Abdullah Al Mamun, all associate professors of mass communication department, surrendered to the court on September 5. The officer-in-charge of the Motihar police station filed the case.

The Senpara Parbata Eidgah Math (field) at Mirpur is only meant for holding two Eid prayers and religious functions as playing games is restricted here.
   Local boys cannot play in the field as a local mosque committee has banned playing games, local people said.
   The restriction is depriving a good number of local children of having their pastime in playing, they added. A committee of the Baitul Karar Jam-e-Masjid, which is taking care of the field, banned playing in the field in 2006.
   ‘We have imposed the restriction to protect the field from any damage or misuse,’ said Haji Abdus Salam, brother of mosque caretaker Abdul Ali.
   A sign hung on the southern side of the field reads ‘playing of any kind of games is restricted excepting for Eid prayers and holding waj mahfil (religious functions).’
   The boundary wall of the field was constructed six years back by the mosque committee.
   ‘Recently we have filled the Eidgah with dirt for its development and will fall more dirt on the field before Eid-ul-Fitr,’ he said.
   Apart from holding two Eid prayers, an annual three-day waj mahmil is arranged in the field, he added.
   Kamruzzaman Shawpan, a local resident, said children and boys of the area once used to play different kinds of games in the field.
   Due to the ban, several hundred boys and children of the locality are being deprived of playing games, said Montu, another local resident said.
   ‘Once we played in the field every day but now we can’t do it as there is no other playground in the area,’ Arman, a 14-year old boy said.
   There are a large number of different trees including Mehgini and Papaya around the boundary wall of the field.
   This year the mosque committee has cultivated jute in the Eidgah field.
   ‘We have sown jute seeds after falling dirt on the field but our intention is not for any commercial purpose,’ said Salam.
   The Dhaka City Corporation, the authority to maintain playgrounds and open spaces in the city, raises a dias and spreads a canopy on the field for Eid prayrs, he said.
   The field has been used as for Eid prayers since 1947, said Salam.

A total of 128 kilometer stretch of roads and 21 km stretch of footpaths in the Dhaka city have been damaged due to the recent rain and the flooding.
   The chief executive officer of the Dhaka City Corporation, Saifuddin Ahmed, made the disclosure while exchange views at Nagar Bhaban on Wednesday.
   The corporation has already taken initiative to repair the damaged roads in the city, he told the meeting attended by the Dhaka mayor, Sadeque Hossain Khoka.
   The corporation chief engineer, Ashfaqul Islam, said they had already repaired temporarily 18,20,853 square metre roads that developed around 1,000 ditches.
   ‘We have taken initiative to repair the roads permanently and the repair work will begin in March,’ he said.
   He further said the corporation had also taken measures against mosquito menace and to clean the city.
   Secretary and heads of different departments of the corporation also attended the meeting.

Two minor boys were killed when a boundary wall of a house collapsed on them at Rampura in the Chittagong city on Wednesday.
   The deceased are Panna, 10, son of Abdul Maleque of Purba Maizpara and Sohel, 8, son of Mohammed Salim of Surjya Narayanpur under Noakhali.
   Local sources said the 100-feet boundary wall of the house owned by one Mohammed Zakir, collapsed on the two boys at 1:00pm while were playing near the wall.
   The two boys were taken to the Chittagong Medical College and Hospital with critical injuries. But they died soon after admission to the hospital.

Three reels of the final picture negative of a full-length feature film have gone missing from the Telecin Department of the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation.
   The 7th number final picture negative box of the film, Ganga Jatra, is not found in the telecin room, Mosharraf Hossain, engineer in-charge of the department, said on Wednesday, adding that the negative box went missing sometime after September 17.
   According to the record book, the officials worked on the 7th number negative box of the film on September 17. The record book of the BFDC also shows that the 19 boxes of the final picture negative of the film were submitted to the Telecin Department, the highest safety zone in BFDC, on August 22 from the store of the BFDC and sub-assistant engineer Aklima received the negative boxes.
   The film director, Wahiduzzaman Diamond, said he had phoned Mosharraf Hossain on September 25 to know about the progress of the telecin and he informed me that the work could not be completed as the 7th box of the negative went missing.
   ‘I contacted Emdad Hossain, director [production] on Wednesday and he asked me to submit an application in this regard. He also assured me of taking strong action against those involved with the matter,’ Diamond said.
   The BFDC managing director was not available for comments.
   Some of the film directors, including Sohanur Rahman Sohan, expressed their disappointment over the issue. ‘I hope the authorities will take proper measures to keep our materials safe,’ Sohan added.

The Transparency International Bangladesh and five other non-governmental organisations have chalked out elaborate programmes to observe International Rights to Information Day across the country tomorrow.
   Mahmud Hasan, programme director of D-Net, one of the six NGOs, announced the programmes at a news conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely at a few places over Rajshahi, Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions during the 24-hour period till 6:00pm today.
   Moderately heavy falls may also occur at places during the period, the Met Office said, predicting 1-2 degrees Celsius rise in the day temperature over the country.
   The country’s highest temperature on Wednesday, 34.0 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Jessore and Sitakunda and the lowest, 23.9 degrees Celsius, at Maijdicourt.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 5:50pm and rises tomorrow at 5:49am.
   The Met office predicted a little change in the outlook for subsequent two days and increased rainfall activity in the extended outlook for another five days.

Price of hilsa fish has declined in the markets in Barisal region due to an increase in supply as fishermen are having big catches in the Bay and a ban on export and storage is still in force, traders said.
   Barisal BFDC wholesale fish market sources said at least one hundred tonnes of hilsa were unloaded from fishing trawlers at this market on Wednesday.
   Prices ranged between Tk 180 and Tk 200 per kilogram of big hilsa while Tk 150 and Tk 170 for medium size and between Tk 120 and Tk 140 per kg of small hilsa weighing less than 800 grams. Hilsa price declined by two-thirds compared to the price in July, the sources said.
   Nur Muhammad, manager of Barisal BFDC market, and Yusuf Sikdar, secretary of fish traders’ association, said price of hilsa may go down to Tk 100 per kg within a couple of days after having more catches from the Bay.
   Mustafa Chowdhury, president of Barguna Trawlers-Owners’ Association, said prices ranged between Tk 150 and Tk 170 per kg of big hilsa while Tk 120 and Tk 130 per kg of medium and small size hilsha.
   Fazlu Gazi, president of Alipur-Mohipur fish traders association of Kuakata, said price of hilsa was declining at this fishing port and selling between Tk 180 and Tk 220 per kg of big hilsa and Tk 150 and 170 per kg of medium and small size hilsha.
   Fish traders said prices of hilsa came down sharply due to having big catches in the Bay and a ban on export and storage since July 4.

The police Tuesday night arrested Master Abdus Samad, chairman of the Shufalakathi union council at Keshabpur in Jessore on charge of misappropriating rice allocated for the distressed people.
   The police arrested him at the order of the upazila nirbahi officer, Nurul Amin, at around 11:00pm.
   The upazila nirbahi officer earlier ordered Kalinga Bihari Sikder, upazila project implementation officer, to investigate the matter on information provided by the joint forces.
   The police seized 315 kilograms of rice that was misappropriated. The chairman allegedly saved 1 kilogram of rice from the amount meant for per head distribution.
   He was sent to jail after being produced in a magistrate’s court.

Rokeya Begum Majumder, assistant teacher of the PNT Government Primary School at Motijheel died at Khidmah Hospital in Dhaka on September 22. She was 51.
   She is survived by her husband Khaled Mahmood, editor and publisher of weekly The Economy, and two daughters. She was buried at her family graveyard at village Norottampur under Begumganj of Noakhali on September 23. Her qul khwani will be held at her village home in Norottampur on Friday.

Mohammad Idrish Majumder, father of University Grants Commission member Professor AHM Zehadul Karim, died at his residence in Dhaka on Tuesday. He was 88.
   A retired Customs officer, Idris is survived by three sons and five daughters.

A discussion meeting with visionary doctors and medical experts was held in the Chief Adviser’s Office in Dhaka on Wednesday.
   The Access to Information (A2I) Programme organised the discussion in technical cooperation with the UNDP as part of series of programmes to set an e-governance vision for the country.
   Mahabub Sarwar, national project director of A2I, gave the welcome speech while Munir Hassan, programme implementation specialist facilitated the session.
   As part of the e-governance action plan of the A2I, an e-governance vision document is being prepared, speakers told the meeting.
   A framework responsive to the needs of citizens, government officials and all stakeholders will be developed, they said.
   This document will capture a strategic and systemic understanding about the possible future of e-governance environment in Bangladesh.

Dewan A Mujib, former senior executive of Burmah Eastern Limited and Padma Oil Co, died of old age complications at Toronto in Canada on September 23. He was 82.
   The body of Dewan will arrive in Dhaka Saturday morning by a British Airways flight, the family members said.
   His janaza will be held at Gulshan Azad Mosque at 10:30am the same day.
   Later, the mortal remains will be taken to his village home at Ita, Dewan Bari, Moulvi Bazar for burial. Friends, relations, and well-wishers have been requested to pray for the salvation of the departed soul.

DCC to host Sanitary Landfill workshop
The Dhaka City Corporation today holds a landfill operation workshop at the Matuail landfill site. The workshop will be held with the aim to acquaint the landfill staff with proper practices for landfill operation, maintenance and monitoring of surrounding environment. The workshop will also serve as a way to understand and incorporate opinions and situations of waste management workers, said a DCC press release. The corporation, which has been working to improve the overall solid waste management of the city with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency since 2000, has made significant effort to improve the existing Matuail disposal site and its extension to transform the site into a semi-aerobic sanitary landfill, the first of its kind in Bangladesh. The new facilities will be inaugurated on October 3, added the press release.
— BSS