Sushanta Ghosh

The last six years have been good for hilsa fishing in the south.

Believe it or not, guava is selling at Tk 5 per kg at the wholesale markets in Pirojpur, Jhalakathi and Barishal districts.

On July 30, Ashikur Rahman Zubayer received a letter from Guinness World Record at his house on Masjid Bari Road in Jhalakati. Eight months ago, Ashikur had submitted his world record attempt entry to the organisation under football freestyle world records category.

Holidaymakers from the southern region have started returning to their workplaces in Dhaka after spending Eid-ul-Adha with their families.

Eid-ul-Azha typically brings throngs of people to the ports, eager to go home before the religious festival. Launches are often overcrowded, and

Guava traders in Barishal district are on the verge of heavy losses this year due to the low turnout of buyers and drastic fall in demand for the fruit in Dhaka and Chattogram caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

On July 22, a mobile court sentenced three employees of a diagnostic centre in Jordan Road area of Barishal city to six months’ imprisonment.

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Barishal Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) authorities found itself in a waste disposal conundrum as the city corporation has stopped collecting waste from the hospital.

A one-storey structure being constructed using plastic bottles at Rajihar in Barishal’s Agailjhara upazila is fast becoming the talk of the entire district.

With the doom and gloom surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic slowly subsiding, the west bank of Barishal’s Kirtankhola river has started to see increased activity.

A large number of paved roads in Barishal city are in poor shape, with the monsoon season is bringing out the worst in these.

Almost two-thirds of the treatment seekers, who died after admission to the Corona unit of Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) during the last four months, were actually suffering from diseases other than Covid-19.

Barishal division’s only RT-PCR lab, set up at Sher-e-Bangla Medical College, is struggling to examine samples, as the demand for Covid-19 tests rises.

Last Monday, there was a fire on the ground floor of coronavirus unit at Barishal’s Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital. While there were thankfully no casualties, the incident exposed the hospital’s unpreparedness in the case of fires.

Defying official order, all kitchen markets in Barishal city are bustling with people as vendors have opened shop again, a month after they were shifted to open spaces due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Filling up of a part of a century-old waterbody allegedly by a former local public representative has caused an uproar among concerned citizens and activists in Barishal.

The shortage of trained manpower at intensive care units (ICUs) compromises proper treatment of Covid-19 patients, among others, at Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) in Barishal.

A team of dedicated people belonging to Quantum Foundation (QF) are performing funerals of Covid-19 victims, setting a laudable example of humanity at a time when even family members sometimes become too scared to reach the deceased’s body.

A special deck has been introduced on a passenger launch running on Barguna-Dhaka route, to maintain social distancing among passengers.

The special Open Market Sale (OMS) programme to provide rice at Tk 10 per kg started in April to help those outside safety net during the Covid-19 pandemic.