From the climate change frontline
The Bangladesh government is about to declare a “state of water emergency” in the drought prone Barind tract in the northwest of the country, where over-extraction of groundwater for rice farming and dwindling rainfall caused by climate change have combined to create a crisis.
Apparently, the local people are happy with the development activities as some of them have got job here as laborers. But the overall situation is not so simple.
Such rituals and festivities were an integral part of the lives of the agro-based community in the delta
The much-coveted ban, ensured twice every year, has hiked Bangladesh’s Hilsa produce to a whopping annual average of 387,211 tonnes,65% of the global Hilsa catch
In a bid to assist the industrial growth of the southwestern region, the government recently reclassified a number of industries as ‘Green’ which were previously categorized as ‘Red’
More frequent natural disasters and rising sea levels are causing damage to the coastal
Unusually heavy pre-monsoon rains wiped out 2 million tonnes worth of rice crops
Mooted climate policy was dropped from the budget announced on Thursday
Ten more rivers flowing from India to Bangladesh may soon get official recognition as transboundary rivers, enabling joint management by the two governments
The government is providing solar power systems as welfare payment in job schemes for the poor
A deal to allow cruise ships to pass between India and Bangladesh in the world’s largest mangrove could open the way for deeper cooperation between the countries along shared rivers
And a solar pump provides clean drinking water to schoolchildren, in an area plagued by arsenic in groundwater
Increased rainfall forecasts trigger landslide fears for Rohingya refugees in hillside camps