Probir Bidhan: A Journo's Diary

Sharing Information And Thoughts

ক্যাটাগরি Biodiversity

  • Sundarbans Oil Spill: Is Bangladesh capable of facing disasters?

    Now ‎Dolphins‬ started dying after the ‎Sundarbans‬ oil spill. Fishes, birds, crabs are already dying. Next are the deer and tigers, and what not! However, it’s no big deal for this ‪‎government and the administration of 2014‪ Bangladesh! Its minister says the oil spill will not harm the forest much! They are building two 1320MW coal-run power plants – despite knowing…

  • High Court may act now for Rampal

    The High Court on Tuesday will hear for the second day a public interest litigation four lawyers have filed against a massive coal-run power plant in Bangladesh coastal district Bagerhat and construction of an anchorage for unloading coal in the reserve forest area. The plant site has 1834 acres on the bank of a river…

  • Callousness over Rampal power plant, and cruelty

    They started work on awarding India a job of building and operating coal power plants back in early 2010 – soon after the prime minister signed a 55-point joint communique with Manmohan Singh including the one involving power sector cooperation. No protests were there about the agreements until early 2011 when the PDB held a…

  • Write your opinion on National Environment Policy 2013 online

    The draft National Environment Policy 2013 is still open for online review. The environment and forest ministry has prepared the proposal and will allow public opinion for several more days. The document is accessible on the website of Department of Environment (DoE). DOWNLOAD FROM HERE!!! Read it and give your valuable opinion. After gathering and analysing…

  • DoE defends approval of EIA for Sundarbans coal plant

    The Department of Environment (DoE) gave the EIA green signal after eight revisions and imposing a number of conditions to protect the World Heritage Site, declared by the Unesco, and river Pashur which is a sweet-water dolphin sanctuary. The final environmental clearance for the project would be given after implementation of the project “only if…

  • Is Bangladesh on the right path centring environment?

    The government is moving ahead with its priority on the climate change issues. Though climate change is a slow process, we’ve already been experiencing the impacts. The efforts taken now for adaptation and mitigation would be better for the country in the future only if those are executed properly. Bangladesh in the last couple of…

  • Tanneries in Dhaka: No more menace please!

    Probir K Sarker & Abu Bakar Siddique Published in Dhaka Tribune on June 5; bottom has latest development When tanneries were initially allowed to operate in the Hazaribagh area, at the western part of the capital, close to Turag river, no planning had taken place. Now, the number of tanneries exceed 200, over the last six decades,…

  • Nuclear power plants: Bangladesh and global

    Bangladesh plans to produce 2000MW of electricity by 2023 and another 4000MW by 2030; the plan for setting up the country’s first-ever nuclear power plant was initiated in 1961; The estimated cost of the proposed plant at Rooppur in Ishwardi upazila of Pabna district is set $1.5-2bn; The first phase (1000MW) of the project will…

  • ইটের ভাটা মালিকেরা কি এতই শক্তিশালী!

    নগরায়ন ও শিল্পায়নের দ্রুত বিকাশের কারনে নির্মান উপকরনের মধ্যে ইটের ব্যবহার দিন দিন বাড়ছে পাল্লা দিয়ে। তাই ইটের ভাটাগুলোর বিশ্রাম নেই, খুব বৃষ্টি না হলে মালিকরা চুলা বন্ধ করেনা। আর তদারকী কর্তৃপক্ষেরও নিষেধ নেই, উন্নয়ন বলে কথা। হুম, উন্নয়ন কে না চায়! কিন্তু কিসের বিনিময়ে সেই উন্নয়ন (!) অর্জিত হচ্ছে এবং সেই অর্জনের ভাগীদার কে…

  • Who is to stop these polluters?

    Highly polluting brickfields are still operating unabated across the country including on the outskirts of Dhaka posing serious health risks in this dry season, harming the nature and damaging arable land. Most of these conventional chimneys are baking bricks round the clock burning wood, tyres and low-quality coal. Replacing the chimneys with improved modern ones…

  • Save the Sundarbans, shift Rampal coal-power plant

    The govts of Bangladesh & India have started officially the work of Rampal power plant by holding the first-ever meeting of the joint venture company in Dhaka. The Bangladesh govt seems to be pleased to show India that it can keep its words. The Daily Star has again done the job of a mouthpiece of…

  • Objection! Punish the housing and real estate demons Ashiyan & Bashundhara!

    Realtors have warned Rajuk not to interfere in its ongoing fair in Dhaka, means there could be some unauthorised plots/apartments sold in the fair like the previous days. I was very disappointed to read the story in Wednesday morning. Last year, the High Court declared 77 such schemes “illegal” and some of those are very…

  • The 12.12.12.

    Nothing mentionable occurred till 4am when I heard several aircrafts flying by while watching TV in this freezing, foggy night. But suspecting something else, I opened the door to corridor and realised it was thunderbolt. Within minutes, rain started in a moderate scale and lasted for half an hour. And after sometime, I heard the…

  • Impacts of brickfields neglected, still!

    We are so constrained a people, situationally and conditionally, that we tend to ignore many implied ills for a single apparent gain. Such an issue is the ever-expanding “brick-making industry”, given the fact that brick appears to be an essential item in this era of urbanisation and industrialisation. But, unfortunately, many consequential problems have arisen…

  • হায় ফুলবাড়ি! তোমার কপালে কি কেবল দু:খ লেখা?

    [slideshow]এই বিষয়ে লেখা ঠিক আগের ব্লগটিতে আশংকা করেছিলাম “এসব কর্মকান্ড প্রতিহত করতে চাইলে জনগনের উপর আবার খড়গহস্ত হবে বর্তমানে শেখ হাসিনার তত্বাবধানে থাকা পেটোয়া বাহিনী!” হ্যাঁ, তাই হয়েছে আজ। ফুলবাড়িতে স্থানীয়দের জনসভা বানচালে সরকার ১৪৪ ধারা দিয়েছে। আমি ধিক্কার জানাই। এশিয়া এনার্জিকে আবার উন্মুক্ত খনি খননকাজে সহযোগিতা করার সিদ্ধান্ত বাস্তবায়নের পূর্বে মাননীয় প্রধানমন্ত্রী আপনার উচিত…

  • Brickfields like necklace for Dhakai people

    [slideshow] When will we go tough against the polluters who bully laws, and harm people and the environment only for profits? Will the time come after witnessing a disaster or in the beginning of a gradual decline, or must before whole system collapses? However, in the case of ensuring clean environment, I prefer ‘better late…

  • Bangladesh’s real estate and housing firms big polluters

    Realtors real violators L-R: Filling low-lying wetlands and destroying aquatic life and ecology. Not following the directives related to the surroundings of a site including keeping open space. Photo: STAR (left), writer (right) Published in The Daily Star on November 10, 12 Even though the Department of Environment ‘DoE’ and Rajuk have been penalizing real…

  • ফুলবাড়িঃ শুধু প্রতিশ্রুতিভঙ্গ নয়, এটা লুটপাট

    উন্মুক্ত কয়লা খনি ও এশিয়া এনার্জিকে বাংলাদেশ থেকে তাড়ানোসহ ৬দফা দাবিতে আগস্ট মাসজুড়ে আন্দোলনের এক পর্যায়ে ২৬ তারিখে আইনশৃঙ্খলা বাহিনী গুলি চালায় আন্দোলনকারীদের উপর যাদের মধ্যে এলাকার ছেলে-মেয়ে-বুড়ো সবার পাশাপাশি সারা দেশ থেকে সমব্যাথীরাও ছিলেন। আমিন, সালেকিন ও তরিকুল প্রাণ হারালেন। তখনকার বিএনপি-জামায়াত জোট সরকার সমঝোতায় আসতে রাজী হলো ৩০ তারিখে। রাজশাহীর মেয়র মিজানুর রহমান…

  • Open-pit, Asia Energy (GCM plc) prioritised again for Phulbari mine!

      [slideshow] The government panel to assess a suitable coal extraction method has, evidently, suggested open-cut method for Phulbari mine and review of a previous proposal by a multinational company citing many reasons to establish the opinion. The news was published first on Saturday by The Daily Star, which has been questioned for its pro-government…

  • Be careful about land grabbers Ashiyan City, Bashundhara

    Now we see the Ashiyan Group campaigning thoroughly for its mega project ‘Ashiyan City’ near Dhaka airport raises the eyebrows of people who know that this is not a ‘valid one’, though it is in papers. The firm, a member of realtors’ group REHAB, is advertising vastly on the top selling newspapers, including Prothom Alo.…

  • Top firms polluting much

    [slideshow] Pollution in Savar area When the local businesses are growing fast, it’s alarming to witness that many renowned companies have been ignoring environmental rules. These incidents are recently being revealed thanks to the enforcement drives by the Department of Environment (DoE), led by a director, Mohammad Munir Chowdhury. This man must be applauded, though…

  • Sheikh Hasina’s Peace Model for UN: two points missing

    Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the upcoming General Assembly of the United Nations this week will place a resolution on her peace model the UN had adopted during the last meeting in 2011. The model, aiming at people’s empowerment, requires six core issues to be addressed sincerely to achieve the “peace”—the most-cherished spirit in…

  • Stop Hill Cutting Now, Save the Nature for Future

    Down with the hills! The Daily Star September 8, 2012 Hill cutting continues unabated despite ban  Though Bangladesh is prominently a plain land, its Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari, Bandarban and Sylhet have hilly areas with forests and rich biodiversity. These areas are full of natural resources fulfilling needs of the people and other living…

  • Relocation of industries a must to make Dhaka City liveable

    Published in: The Daily Star August 23, 2012 The number of industries in Dhaka is huge, and it is ever-increasing while causing serious pollution to water, air and land of the densely-populated capital. Although there are quite a few designated industrial areas in Dhaka, many industries have been set up in different other areas too, cashing…

  • Let’s save the environment, Earth

    Left: Denudation of forests goes on unabated. Right: River water remains polluted to the extreme. The Daily Star/Environment August 4, 2012 Amid growing industrialisation and pressure of increasing population, and consequent massive pollution due to gross violation of environmental rules, the government has cut this year the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Environment and…

  • Business, protection of environment equally important

    Ship-breaking: Still considered a hazardous polluter The Daily Star June 30, 2012 It was audacious, but at the same time a logical sequel of irregularities by government officials, to see major business leaders of the steel mills, re-rolling mills, plastic factories and brickfields demanding that they be relieved from being penalized for polluting the environment.…

  • Rio+20 roundup, and Bangladesh

    Is ‘green economy’ the answer? The Daily Star June 17, 2012 The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) must take decisive action on population and consumption regardless of political taboos or it will struggle to tackle the alarming decline of the global environment. The warning came from the world’s leading scientific academies on Thursday. “The…

  • Buriganga must live amid industrial development and urbanisation

    Save the lifeline from going deadly and dying L-R: The pitch black water tells the tale of the river’s extreme pollution. Indiscriminate dumping of solid waste not only pollutes the river but desperately shrinks its flow. Probir Kumar Sarker The Daily Star June 9, 2012 Millions of people living and working on the Buriganga and…

  • Save Savar from further environmental degradation

    L-R: Brickfields in Ashulia burn firewood and emit carbon in the air. Discharge from industrial establishment at Bank Town polluting adjacent waterbody. Click for more photos The daily Star May 26, 2012 Environment Probir Kumar Sarker Over the recent years, Savar is experiencing immense pressure of new industrial, commercial and residential establishments. But most of…

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