Partha Chakrabortty

Over the last couple of years, export earnings from shrimp, grown mainly in the southwest coastal districts for shipment to the developed economies, have been falling consistently in the face of competition from low-priced vannamei shrimp.

Many people at Sialkanthi village in Bagerhat’s Kachua upazila are now following a youth’s footsteps as he has successfully cultivated dragon fruit for the first time in the upazila.

When farmers in many areas in the country are struggling to market their produce amid limited access to wholesale markets due to pandemic scare, cucumber growers in five upazilas in Bagerhat are delighted to be able to sell the produce for not just good prices, but right from the field too.

The number of patients in the community clinics sees a steady rise as the common people prefer to get health services at the locality instead of going to upazila and district hospitals during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Thousands of people in five upazilas of Bagerhat -- a coastal district where fresh drinking water is scarce due to high salinity in groundwater -- are once again getting their hopes up on a probable solution to their longstanding water crisis.

Cultivated fishes including carp and shrimp in a number of enclosures in Bagerhat are dying due to scarcity of water amid the hot weather prevailing for the last couple of weeks.

Primary school teachers in Bagerhat will get all the documents and information relating to their post-retirement leave (PRL), retirement and pension allowance online, thanks to the district primary education department’s initiative for hassle-free disbursement of retirement allowance and pension for the teachers.

A significant number of residents in six upazilas of coastal district Bagerhat -- where groundwater is unconsumable due to presence of high levels of arsenic and salinity -- are suffering from water-borne diseases this dry season as most pond sand filters (PSF) installed there have gone out of order.

Unlike other years, Bagerhat KB Bazar is flooded with different sizes of hilsa during the ongoing winter, much to the delight of fishermen and traders.

Both sides of a two-kilometre long road, in Lakhpur union of Fakirhat upazila, has worn a green look.

Several community clinics in Bagerhat’s Kachua upazila are failing to provide required services to treatment seekers due to various problems like shortage of doctors, medicines, diagnostic equipment, pure water and overall infrastructural facilities.

A section of fishermen continue illegal netting of sharks in the Bay of Bengal as the fish is sold for good prices in different areas of the country.

During monsoon, when there is water everywhere, people need dinghy or small open boats that are easier for rowing in shallow water by just one person. And the boat craftsmen of Dohar Ramsidhi are specialised in making just that.

Once flowing Bhairab river and several canals in Kachua upazila of Bagerhat are heading towards virtual death, thanks to illegal occupation and garbage dumping for years.

The water of the Baleshwar river in Bagerhat’s Kachua upazila has never tasted salty in 58-year-old farmer Altaf Hossain’s life, until this year.

Continuous erosion by the river Nabaganga is threatening the homes and livelihoods of 400 families in two villages of Narail’s Kalia upazila.

Believe it or not, a dilapidated concrete bridge, ‘protected’ with bamboo poles for around three years, serves as the lone means for people of at least 12 villages in Narail Sadar upazila.

The ongoing hilsa season sees poor netting of the popular fish in the coastal waters, much to the frustration of fishermen and traders of Bagerhat’s KB Ghat.

The government has initiated a mega project to dredge three rivers and twenty-two canals in Narail district to restore navigability and improve agriculture and fisheries.

A good number of farmers in Narail are benefiting from the organic cultivation of cucumber.