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Work to save the Haji Shariatullah (Rh) Bridge from erosion by the River Arial Kha at an expenditure of Tk 2.37 crore is nearing completion.
   Abdur Razzak, executive engineer of Roads and Highways Department, Madaripur told this correspondent that foundation of the 450-metre long bridge over the Arial Kha had been laid by former President Shaheed Ziaur Rahman in 1977.
   The bridge with 10 spans was formally opened for traffic on May 15, 2005 after constructing and repairing 162.39 kilometres long connecting roads and highways to reduce 85 to 125 km distance of 21 south-western districts with the capital Dhaka and other parts of the country.
   One third amount of the Tk 87 crore bridge construction project funded by OPEC, ADB and NDF was spent and reserved for river management on the basis of study done by Institute of Water Modeling and River Research Institute as the River Arial Kha is too much erosion-prone.
   In the last four years, the Arial Kha has changed its course several times with aggravation of the erosion endangering the bridge and so another model study to save the Hazi Shariatullah (Rh) Bridge from river erosion was done.
   The RHD started implementation of a ‘deposit work’ plan at a cost of Tk 2.37 crore from the reserved fund of the bridge construction project to save the bridge from river erosion.
   With the help of Water Development Board, the work of dumping 17,000 GO textile bags and GO textile assembling and placement at a cost of Tk 2 crore and construction of an 100 metre long embankment at a cost of Tk 0.37 crore are nearing completion, said the RHD official.
   However, monitoring of the changing river route, erosion and condition of the bridge would be continued even after ensuring safety of the bridge, he assured.

Many kinds of summer fruits have started arriving in the markets of Jaipurhat but they are pricy enough to remain out of the buying capacity of the common people.
   Almost all kinds of summer fruits like mango, litchi, watermelon, pineapple, black berry, bangi and jackfruit are available in local markets, but few people have ability to buy them.
   Fruit traders at different markets in the district said prices of litchi, mango and jackfruit were still high.
   They, however, said the overall prices of summer fruits would start falling within the next two or three weeks.
   Juicy fruit litchi started coming in the markets two weeks back and per 100 well ripen litchis of large size are selling for Tk 200-250 and per 100 medium seize yellowish litchis at between Tk 150 and Tk 200.
   A medium size jackfruit is selling at Tk 80 to 100.
   A number of varieties of mango such as himsagar and gopalbhog have arrived in the markets. Per kilogram of mango is selling at Tk 50 to 80 depending on varieties, traders said.
   Traders are hoping that mango price will go down within a few days as the country witnessed bumper yield this year due to favourable weather. A watermelon is being sold at Tk 30 to 100, depending on sizes.
   Hamidur Rahman, a day labourer of Khanjonpur in sadar upazila, said ‘My son wanted to eat litchi, but I can’t buy it as the price is still too high for me.’
   Farmers said prices of summer fruits were still higher, as compared to agricultural produces.
   Alam Mollah, a farmer of Uttar Joypur in sadar upazila, said, ‘We sell one maund of paddy (37.42 kilogram) at Tk 350 but price of fruits is higher than the paddy price so we can’t buy the seasonal fruits for our family.’
   The white-fleshed melon, locally known as bangi, also sells well alongside watermelon. A medium size bangi sells for Tk 50 to 60.
   Water palm, popularly known as panital, is also now available in the city’s fruit markets.

Launch and motor boat movement has come to a virtual halt with a sharp decline in Kaptai Lake water level in the absence of rainfall which has made life difficult for people of the six upazilas of Rangamati, home to about three lakh people.
   The situation has pushed up the prices of essential goods, sources in the district administration said.
   The prices increased as the goods cannot be ferried to market places by boat from the interior surrounded by the lake.
   The people of Baghaichari, Langadu, Barkal, Jurachari, Belaichhari and Naniarchar, detached from the district headquarters as the lake has dried up, have become helpless, the Baghaichari upazila nirbahi officer, Shibir Bichitra Barua, said.
   Transport of food grains from the local supply depot in the district headquarters to depots in upazilas has also become difficult, the sources said.
   Continuous silting of the lake bed has hampered fish farming in the lake, jeopardised the operation of the Karnaphuli Hydro Power station, said the officials concerned.

Activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, associate student body of the ruling Awami League, beat up a student at BM College in Barisal on Saturday.
   The college sources said BCL activists, led by Jasimuddin, Jobayer and Collins, beat up Md Riaz,
   a fourth semester student of sociology department, at about 12:00pm.
   Riaz was rescued by the teachers and admitted in a clinic.
   The victim claimed that the BCL men started beating him when he denied paying them toll.
   The college vice-principal, Professor Ansaruddin, admitting to the incident, said college authorities would take action against the attackers.

Two persons, including a minor boy, were killed in separate road accidents in Pabna and Jaipurhat on Saturday.
   One of the dead was Ziaur Rahman alias Zia, 24, of village Monaharpur of the Pabna district headquarters while the other could not be identified immediately.
   Our Pabna correspondent, quoting the police, said Zia had died on the spot as he was ran over by a bus while he was crossing the road at Majidpur at about 9:00am.
   The police sent the body to Pabna General Hospital morgue.
   Our Jaipurhat correspondent, quoting the Jaipurhat police officer-in-charge, Rezaul Haq, said an unnamed minor boy had died on the spot when a Bogra-bound truck hit him in the Bata crossing in the morning.
   The driver managed to get away.
   The police sent the body to Jaipurhat General Hospital morgue.