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Policy planners on Monday said Bangladesh, among the least developed countries, would be the worst suffer of global environment degradation and rise in the sea level.
   The government has to pay due importance to environmental issues and take infrastructural development plans to face the challenges, they said at a seminar organised on the occasion of Commonwealth Day.
   Special assistance to the chief adviser for environment and forest, Raja Devasish Roy, was present as chief guest at the discussion organised by the forest and environment ministry. The theme of the day this year is ‘Environment: Our Future’.
   Foreign secretary Mohammad Touhid Hossain, Federation of Environment Journalists Association of Bangladesh president Quamrul Islam Chowdhury and environment department director general Khandaker Rashedul Huque also addressed the meeting with environment secretary AHM Rezaul Kabir in the chair.
   Speaking on the occasion, Devasish mentioned factors like hill cutting, unabated dumping of effluents in rivers, including Buriganga, and increasing sound and air pollution in cities that created negative impact on the environment as well as on the national life.
   ‘Bangladesh cannot afford the setback and wait for what will happen as an adverse impact of environmental degradation,’ he said, adding ‘We should take up plans and efforts today although the results may be visible in several years.’
   The special assistant said the water of dying Buriganga might not be cleaned in a year but efforts could start now for reviving it by controlling waste dumping and setting up affluent treatment plants in the industries that now dumped waste into the river.
   He acknowledged that there were some legal and technical problems regarding total checking of sound pollution, air pollution and issues like the use of polythene bags, but assured that measures were being taken to make effective laws.
   Devasish said more drives thorough mobile courts would be carried out against the pollution. He also sought support of the media in these regards.
   About global aspect, he said, ‘The ice has started melting and the sea has started swelling. Bangladesh has to be the worst suffer among the Commonwealth countries due to its effect.’
   The foreign secretary blamed the developed countries for causing more harm to the global environment and stressed mobilisation of resources and acquiring of appropriate modern technology by the least developed countries like Bangladesh to facilitate its development.
  m ; Quamrul Islam said as a nation Bangladesh had failed to carry out its responsibility to maintain the country’s environment.
   There is no alternative to sustainable development for saving human and material resources of the country, he said and stressed the need for taking development plans keeping environment issues in mind.
   The environment secretary stressed the need for the involvement of the mass people in ensuring environmentally-friendly and sustainable development of the country.
   Leading environmentalists from the government and non-government sectors attended the meeting.

The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority will introduce digital licences for drivers where all related information would be compressed, an official said Monday.
   BRTA chairman Sunil Kanti Bose said they had taken the decision to reduce cheating as duplication of licence was widespread.
   ‘We want to start work on digital licensing by next two years,’ Sunil told journalists at the BRTA headquarters in Dhaka.
   He said they were working to reduce the timeframe for issuing licences. ‘Previously it would take even years to get blue books. Now a car owner will get it in a week. In some cases, may be it will take at best one month.’
   He said BRTA officials had filed cases against 714 vehicles in the capital between February 26 and March 6 after examining documents.
   As many as 66 vehicles have been seized during the time for not having proper documents, he said. Sunil said they would be able to take worn-out vehicles off the streets once the proposed Motor Vehicles Ordinance 2007 was promulgated.
   ‘The BRTA needs autonomy to provide people with better services,’ he said.

Construction of 23,000 feet walkways along the banks of Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara Lake is set to be completed by this month although the project under which the work is being done has been gathering dust at the Planning Commission.
   Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha is constructing the walkways under the Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara Lake Development Project since 2004, Rajuk sources said, adding the total length of walkways under the project was 50,000 feet.
   Of the 50,000 feet walkways, 20,000 feet will be constructed after acquisition of land in Badda, Niketan and Kuril portions of the lakes, an official of Rajuk said.
   Although the Tk 105 crore project that includes construction of six bridges at a cost of Tk 33.68 crore has been lying at the Planning Commission, the city development agency has been constructing the walkway from its own fund, he said.
   ‘Rajuk will spend one fifth of Tk 72 crore, earmarked for the development of Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara and Uttara lakes under the project, for constructing the walkways,’ the official said.
   The work on the construction of walkways started in 2004 under the Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara and Uttara Lake Development Project, he said. After the development of Dhanmondi Lake, Rajuk took original project in 2000 involving Tk 120 crore with a move to save the four linked lakes from being encroached on and polluted.
   The first phase of the project, which includes appointment of consultant, preparation of layout design and chalking out ways to demolish illegal structures, was completed smoothly.
   At the directive of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Rajuk later prepared a project proposal involving Tk 72 crore in early 2003 and submitted it to the Planning Commission the same year for approval.
   It submitted a revised proposal, comprising the lake development plan and the construction of six bridges at a cost of Tk 105 crore to the ministry in line with the Planning Commission suggestion in mid 2004.
   Rajuk accordingly submitted the revised proposal and it has been gathering dust at the commission since then, said an official of Rajuk.
   The lakes, meanwhile, continue to be polluted due to the lack of proper care. Toxicity of the Gulshan Lake water has reached to an intolerable level for fishes, residents and environmentalists said.
   When the fishes die, the poor people collect and consume those or sell in the markets posing a threat of serious health hazards.
   An official of Rajuk said plague in fishes was believed to be caused by frequent dumping of sewage and toxic industrial wastes.
   The official said about 95 per cent of the household wastes of Badda and Baridhara flow into the lake through sewer lines and it is one of the main reasons for pollution of the lake water, he said, adding liquid wastes also come to the lake from Gulshan and Banani areas through the sewer lines, he said.
   Abu Naser Khan, chairman of Save Environment Movement, said a large amount of untreated chemical and toxic waste from different industries in Tejgoan and Pragati Sarani areas was being dumped into the lake every day and it was one of the main reasons for pollution of the lake water.

The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, on Monday called for building a knowledge-based society, where knowledge would be the main driving force for attaining overall development.
   Describing Bangladesh as a land of ancient civilisation having rich cultural and traditional heritage, he said a good number of noted scientists, poets, litterateurs, artistes, athletes, and even priest were born in this soil and elevated the country to a great height in the international arena.
   ‘Time has come to uphold the glory of our past and nourish them for the greater interest of our generation,’ he told the 8th convocation of the American International University-Bangladesh at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Convention Centre in Dhaka.
   The president said Bangladesh was slowly emerging as a middle-income nation shaking off its past stigma as a least developed country, with its development indicators gradually rising above the LDC gradation.
   ‘Having a population of 140 million in a small geographic area our achievement is no mean in sustaining such a huge population and raising their living standards,’ he said, adding that the country had achieved significant progress in macroeconomic aspects, health and nutrition.
   Iajuddin urged all concerned to provide the cutting edge of information technology and make sure its best use in national interest.
   ‘The unforeseen development in IT sector on the one hand gives us enormous opportunity to gather knowledge and on the other it throws some challenges before us,’ he told his elite audience.
   The challenges include coping with the world community in the field of ever-changing information technology and proper use of it in the fastest-growing sector of the present world. As such, he said, updated IT knowledge is a must for all to pick up the advantage of IT.
   On various achievements, the president said the country had been able to reduce child mortality significantly and succeeded in immunisation programme. The success in enhancing literacy rate is also quite appreciable.
   Despite attaining these successes, he said, ‘We have to go a long way for achieving the desired goals of our hard-earned independence.’
   ‘The intrinsic value of education is to illuminate oneself and to enlighten society with the never-ending light of wisdom and prudence,’ he said.
   Professor Ahmed hoped that the erudite section of society as well as the educational institutions, particularly universities, would come forward to foster the heritage and nurture the innate intellect of the people to create the aspired knowledge-based society.
   The president, also chancellor of AIUB, hoped that the graduates fresh from the university would get an ample opportunity to serve the country through their earned knowledge and wisdom.
   An AIUB press release adds: The president also conferred degrees on 743 under graduate and post-graduate level students.
   The Japanese ambassador in Dhaka, Masayuki Inoue, also the convocation speaker, stressed the need for modern technology and quality higher education, and said national development was not possible without technological education.
   University Grants Commission chairman Professor Nazrul Islam, AIUB vice-chancellor Dr Carmen Z Lamagna, and founder-chairman of the university Dr Anwarul Abedin also spoke on the function.

Illegal car parking and use of parking spaces of different establishments for commercial purposes mainly in the residential areas in the Dhaka city are continuing despite the ongoing drives.
   Illegal parking of cars is going on unabated mainly in semi-residential and residential areas including Dhanmondi, Green Road, Gulshan Avenue and Kemal Ataturk Avenue in the city.
   Cars are often found in front of high-rise buildings, near private universities, schools, medical and diagnostic centers, restaurants, shopping malls and chain shops and other commercial establishments.
   Most of the commercial establishments in the capital have either no parking facilities or limited facilities. Besides, parking spaces of a good many of them are being used for commercial purposes.
   A section of owners has given rent for running fast-food, grocery, stationery, boutique or other shops in their commercial establishments.
   In the first few months of the present interim government, many business establishments built in the parking spaces were demolished. But most of them were rebuilt at the same place taking stay orders from the court.
   Illegal parking of cars is mainly found in front of chain shops, shopping malls, medical and diagnostic centers in the city’s Dhanmondi and Gulshan areas.
   Fawzia Nasrin, a local resident said, ‘Some times we face trouble in entering our apartment house as a good many cars remain parked in front of the gate.
   The road in front of the apartment very often lies blocked by cars from morning to evening as many medical centres and schools including Viqarununisa School are located here, she added.
   When contacted, a Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkah official admitted that a good many commercial establishments have been constructed without keeping parking spaces violating approved design.
   Owners of many such establishments managed to get permission from the Dhaka City Corporation for parking vehicles in a single row on the road in front of the establishments, he added.
   ASM Emdadud Dastagir, a magistrate of the RAJUK, said a good number of illegal business establishments built at parking spaces at Dhanmondi were demolished few months back. But they have already been rebuilt at the previous places, he added.
   In this regard, he mentioned PQS, a chain super market at Road 27 at Dhanmondi, was rebuilt at the parking space of Genetic Plaza by taking stay order from the court.
   ‘The drive is going on in different places of the capital and we will take tough action against the establishments rebuilt at the parking space’. He said the highest penalty of the crime is 7 years’ imprisonment and fine of Tk 50,000.
   According to Metropolitan Police Ordinance, the punishment for parking any vehicle on street or at public place is Tk 100.

A three-day international tourism fair begins at the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on Thursday aimed at creating a healthy environment for the country’s tourism sector.
   The civil aviation and tourism secretary, Syed Mohammad Zobaer, will inaugurate the fair, styled ‘Aktel Dhaka Travel Mart 2008’ at 10:30am on the day.
   A total of 42 organisations, including national tourism organisations, airlines, tour operators, hotels, resorts, trade bodies, financial and educational institutions from 12 countries will participate in the fair, being organised for the fifth time, the organisers said at a news briefing at the Sheraton Hotel on Monday.
   The exhibition will remain open from 10:00am to 8:00pm every day and the entry fee for each person has been fixed at Tk 20.
   The participants will offer special discounts in airfares, tour packages and other services during the fair, they said.
   The Biman Bangladesh Airlines will offer 25 per cent discount. ‘We will offer 25 per cent discount to seven destinations including Hong Kong and Kolkata’, said Nafiz Imtiazuddin Khan of the national flag carrier. ‘We will participate in the fair with all our products, he added.
   ‘We have some exquisite tourism spots like Cox’s Bazar sea beach and the Sundarbans, which attract innumerable local and foreign tourists,’ said Association of Travel Agents’ of Bangladesh secretary AKM Bari.
   ‘Steps should be taken to let the tourists, both at home and abroad, know about our exquisite spots,’ he added.
   The chairman of Aktel Dhaka Travel Mart 2008, Kazi Wahidul Alam, said they organised the fair to create a healthy environment for tourism.
   Aktel head of corporate affairs Javed Tariq, Nazim A Chowdhury, head of marketing of Eastern Bank Limited, one of the co-sponsors of the fair, and Tour Operators Association president Hasan Masud attended the briefing, among others.

Weather may remain mainly dry with partly cloudy sky over the country having chances of rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty wind at one or two places over Rajshahi, Khulna, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions and the region of Comilla during the 24-hour period till 6:00pm today, the Met Office said.
   The day temperature may rise slightly over the country.
   The country’s highest temperature on Monday, 32.4 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Jessore and the lowest, 18.5 degrees Celsius, at Rangpur.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:06pm and rises tomorrow at 6:10am.
   The Met Office predicted rain or thunder showers along with gusty wind in the outlook for subsequent two days and rise in the day temperature in the extended outlook for another five days.

BELA forms human chain to save historical pond in Barisal
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association on Monday formed a human chain in front of Barisal Ashwani Kumar Town Hall, demanding step against filling and encroachment on the Rakhal Babur Pukur, a historical pond in the heart of the city. The organisation also held a rally to press home its demand. Suvash Chandra Bipro Bedanti, district coordinator of BELA presided over the rally, addressed, among others, by Talukdar Yunus, Abdul Hye Mahbub, Hiron Kumar Das Mithu, freedom fighter Akkas Hossain, Poet S Ali Muhammad, human rights activist Syed Habibur Rahman, NGO organiser Shubhankar Chakroborti, Kazi Enayet Hossain Shiplu, politician Mahbubul Alam Mazumdar, AK Azad and journalist Anisur Rahman Swapan. The speakers condemned the Barisal City Corporation and the local administration for not taking steps to save the historical pond. A Barisal court on March 6 asked the BCC to take steps to stop earth filling. The court gave the order hearing a lawsuit filed by BELA.
— New Age