Sohrab Hossain

Mariam Akhter Anika is a 10th grader at Pangashia Girls’ High School in Patuakhali’s Dumki upazila. However, during most of her classes she remains distracted -- staring at the ceiling and the beams to watch out when the plaster falls off. 

Despite being rich in birdlife, habitat destruction is looming over the country’s avian species.

People in Bangladesh once barely knew about dragon fruit, also called pitaya, but it is gradually making its way into the fields by winning the hearts of farmers all over the country through its immense popularity.

Grameen Euglena, a joint venture between Japan’s Euglena Co Ltd and Bangladesh’s Grameen Krishi Foundation, has been processing moong dal collected from Patuakhali and exporting it to Japan since 2018.

All the garbage produced across Patuakhali town are dumped on the bank of Lawkathi river, contributing to serious environmental pollution and subsequent health hazard.

Patuakhali, a southern district on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, annually produces about 1.23 lakh tonnes of fish, of which 36,000 tonnes are consumed locally while the remainder is sold in different parts of the country.

Kuakata, home to the second largest beach in Bangladesh, is already visited by a large number of domestic and foreign tourists each year but their numbers could increase seven-fold once the Padma Multipurpose Bridge is officially opened, according to local businesspeople.

Kuakata, the country’s second largest sea beach, is being turned into a tourist destination without a structured plan, kicking out the native Rakhine population in the process.

Seven points in the junction of Tentulia, Agunmukha and Buragauranga estuaries in Patuakhali are one of the breeding grounds of the indigenous pangas fry in the country. The points have been declared as sanctuaries for breeding and migration of the indigenous species of pangas.

Farmers in Barishal division have bet on watermelon cultivation to help overcome the economic challenges brought on by Covid-19, such as losses incurred in growing other crops, as they are getting good prices this season.

Since Friday morning, navigation on Galachipa-Dhaka river route has remained suspended for constructing a bridge over Lohalia river, adjacent to Patuakhali town.

Kuakata, a town in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali, has become a hotbed for tourism once again as visitors are flocking to the popular seaside destination for much-needed rest and relaxation amid the receding coronavirus crisis.

In the reserve forest in Kuakata’s Gangamati area, around 10,000 Akashmani trees were planted in the 2008-09 fiscal year. It has since come to be known as the natural wall of the sea.

He had promised his mother he would come back and build her a new home. On his word, she dreamed of a better life provided by one of the three sons – the lone bread-winner of the family.

In this day and age of digital printing, the bi-monthly “Andharamanik” is a curious phenomenon. Published by Kalapara upazila’s own Hasan Parvez, the paper is actually handwritten by Hasan himself!

A gang has been mindlessly lifting earth from a reserve forest in Gangamati area adjacent to Kuakata sea beach in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali.

A source of light, Chanbaru Memorial Library has now become a centre of learning for students and teachers as well as for other villagers.

A new shoal covering ​​about 5,000 acres has sprung up in the deep Bay of Bengal, about 30 km south of Kuakata.

Hotel and motel owners in Kuakata, one of the most popular tourist spots in Bangladesh, are once again paying heavy prices as bookings are being cancelled owing to the latest spike in coronavirus cases.

Work is underway to set up an export processing zone (EPZ) in Patuakhali centering the Payra sea port.