S Dilip Roy

The first three hours were peaceful, even festive at times as people came in to cast their vote at the polling centres in the Lalmonirhat 3 constituency since early morning.

While BNP supporters remained out of the field even on the day before the national polls fearing arrest and police harassment in Lalmonirhat-3 constituency, Awami League activists were active with last moment electioneering in support of the Jatiya Party candidate.

Voters in char areas of Lalmonirhat seem to have lost hope as several promises regarding the area's development had been announced in previous elections over the decades but nothing was done in reality.

Incidents of child marriages have significantly reduced on remote Char Sindurna on the Teesta in Hatibandha upazila under the district, thanks to the efforts of 25 schoolgirls.

Though Lalmonirhat-3 has been a stronghold of the Jatiya Party, a partner in the Awami League-led grand alliance, since 1991, the Jatiya Oikyafront, led by the BNP and several other parties, is eyeing a win this time.

Defying the law, 11 illegal brick kilns are being built on farmlands in three upazilas, posing a threat to agriculture and the environment.

Three Member of Parliament (MP) candidates out of four vying for Lalmonirhat-3 constituency (Sadar upazila) have pledged to the voters that they will work for checking crime and enhance development work for the welfare of the local people, if elected.

Fresh areas in the district have been targeted for tobacco farming during this current season as different tobacco companies allure the growers with payment of fair price of their produce.

Sixty-five-year-old Portap Chandra Roy in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila is waiting for over four decades to get his montly allowance as a freedom fighter (FF) while another man using the same serial number in Rangpur's Gangachara upazila is enjoying the benefits.

Char farmers have cultivated onion on vast tracts of char lands in the Teesta river this year as they got unexpected profit from selling the produce last year.

Potholes and bumps have developed on some sections of the newly repaired and renovated Barabari-Burimari Highway in Kaliganj and Aditmari upazilas, disrupting traffic movement and causing accidents.

A large amount of money is being spent for salaries of the staff and maintenance of Lalmonirhat Labour Welfare Centre, but labourers are not getting any benefit due to lack of welfare activities there.

Pest (current poka) attack on Aman paddy has upset farmers in the district as they are worried that they may not get expected production this year, in spite of spraying prescribed pesticide on the affected fields.

The contractor of the under-construction Sreekhata Sonamari-Khodorpara road in Kaliganj upazila has not yet removed the substandard materials from the site although he was sent letters by Lalmonirhat Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), asking him to remove those by November 4.

Many children from the traditionally nomadic Bedey community dream of school. But the formal schooling system wasn't designed with nomads in mind. While it's technically

Nobody wants around 1,100 tonnes of Chinese urea fertiliser worth around Tk 2.5 crore stored at a government warehouse at Mahendranagar in the district.

Harvesting of Aman paddy is going on full swing in the chars of the district and farmers are very happy at getting good production this year.

Many farmers have prepared floating Aman seedbeds in small water bodies for using them during an emergency as they faced saplings crisis after the floods last year.

Shafiul Alam Sarker of Mostofi Gobdha village in Kurigram's Rajarhat upazila has set a laudable example of self-employment through koel farming alongside inspiring others to follow suit.

Over twenty thousand people at 40 villages in chars and river basins in five upazilas were marooned by flash flood caused by rise in the water levels of the Teesta and Dharla rivers yesterday.