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Beyond Flush and Forget
I would like to thank Shahnawaz for his excellent article titled
"Beyond Flush and Forget" published on October 14, 2016. The article deals with a subject that     is very important but is hardly published in any newspaper. As I pray five times a day in the mosque, thanks to their toilets, I do not have to face much difficulty when I need to refresh. However, the washrooms of the mosques are not always open and available when I am outside.     I feel shocked when I think about those public toilets that we sometimes have to use seeing no other alternative. And, similarly I feel pity for those who have no option except using such unhygienic restrooms regularly. The worst sufferers of this sanitation crisis are women, which has been pointed out in the article very clearly. I hope the relevant authority, especially the city corporations and municipalities, will take the matter into their consideration immediately.
Enam Hasan
Madaninagar, Naryanganj

The Joy of Eating Well
I would like to thank Star Weekend for publishing the article titled "The Joy of Eating Well" published on 14 October, 2016 and also thanks to Nilima Jahan who wrote the article. Bangladesh is a small country but it has large population to feed. Most of the people of our country are so poor that adequate supply of food is a near impossible task for our government. Children belonging to these impoverished families lead a life full of sufferings and deprivation. They work hard from dawn to dusk to earn a square meal for their families when they are supposed to go to school. The underprivileged children do not get proper food to eat and education for them is a far cry. 'Bidyanondo Foundation' has done an amazing job by providing food and education for these children. Like 'Bidyanondo Foundation' if we all can take such welfare initiatives from our capacity for the street children, it will be possible to eradicate poverty from our country.    
Masum Khan
Chittagong College, Chittagong

Photo: Star File

Fine Isn't Fine
Dhaka is considered one of the most crowded cities in the world. Population has crossed 17 million and counting. Unfortunately, we saw a slightly different behaviour among the city dwellers while crossing roads. Running, jumping, are the very common scenes in it, moreover we intentionally avoid using a foot-over bridge where the government has given the facility, but we ignore and then we blame them if any pedestrian dies in a road accident while crossing, despite knowing that it is dangerous. A couple of months ago Dhaka Metropolitan Police charged fine to the pedestrians in Kakoli area of Banani intersection for not using the foot over bridge. Though there are four foot over bridges in between Chairmanbari and Kakoli but not a single one in between Kakoli and Navy Headquarter. So, this is the reason for the people who want to go to Uttara and farther on, to cross the road inadvertently in the Banani intersection. I believe only fining pedestrians isn't enough to encourage them to use foot-over bridges, rather the government should take the decision wisely on where to build a foot-over bridge or not. The government should do some survey among people before building a new one.
Omor Ahmed
Jahangirnagar University