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Amid the deepening crisis over carrying intending Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, the government is planning to extend Hajj flight operations to August 28 from August 26, reports UNB. The government also expects that a Malaysian aircraft, taken on lease, will start carrying Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims from August 20. Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon came up with the updates at an urgent Hajj-related meeting held at the Biman headquarters on Monday. "Biman, as national flag carrier, is trying to ensure smooth ferrying of pilgrims. A request letter will be sent to General Authority of Civil Aviation, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to extend Hajj flight operation from August 26 to August 28," Menon said. He said about 22 flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines were cancelled due to the lack of an adequate number of Hajj pilgrims. "This created image crisis for the national carrier with financial loss, though Biman was not responsible for this," Menon said.....

Published at: 2017-08-15 05:00:07

Major rivers in Bangladesh are now flowing much above the danger level, setting off a second round of flooding during monsoon this year, report agencies. Onrush of water from upstream areas coupled with monsoon rain affected 20 out of 64 districts claiming at least 20 lives amid fears of an impending severe deluge as major rivers continued to surpass bank lines, officials and experts said. The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said new areas were being inundated as water continued to rise amid monsoon rain and onrush of upstream water. Rising water-level was recorded at 69 out of the 90 monitoring points of the rivers across the country, said the flood forecasting agency's Executive Engineer Sazzad Hossain. "It's flowing above the danger line at 27 points." The situation will worsen as the Jamuna River in Jamalpur was flowing a record 126cm above the danger level on Monday. The surge of river water broke the previous record -- 121cm above the danger level-last year. The water-level of the river in parts of the northern district of Sirajganj was flowing between 96cm and 100cm above the danger level. Water in the Padma in southwestern Faridpur was also flowing 16cm above the danger level. The Jamunashweri River in northern Rangpur was flowing 126cm above the mark while the Kangsha River in northeastern Netrokona 181cm above the danger level. Mr Hossain said the flood situation might worsen over the next few days. Over half a million people across Bangladesh were affected by the fresh floods, the disaster management ministry said on Monday. So far, 27 people have died in the floods with some 586,000 people affected. As many as 368,586 people have taken refuge in shelters. The trend of rising water may continue over the next 48 hours, and the floods in northern districts of Kurigram and Lalmonirhat will spread to Gaibandha, Bogra, Sirajganj and Jamalpur as well as the central and south-central part of the country. The Met office forecasts light to moderate rains and thunder shower coupled with gusty winds in most areas of Rajshahi, Rangpur, Dhaka, Mymensingh, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet Divisions. Meteorologist Md Shahinul Islam said the rains may ease starting on Thursday. Railway tracks in most parts of Dinajpur district went under floodwater, halting train services. In Lalmonirhat, bodies of four people, who were washed away by floodwater at East Barua village in Sadar upazila, were recovered early Monday. The deceased were identified Mozammel Haque, 45, Asma Begum, 38, Abu Hanif, 36, and Alif , 7 of the same village. Kulaghat UP chairman Idris Ali said the four people went missing while going to a shelter centre from their home on Sunday afternoon and locals recovered their bodies in the early morning. The flood situation in Lalmonirhat worsened as six embankments collapsed due to strong current in the Teesta and Dharla rivers, inundating fresh areas of the district. The road and train communications between Lalmonirhat and Burimari remained suspended for the second consecutive day due to severe erosion at different places. People in the flood-hit areas were suffering from scarcity of food and drinking water. Only 160 tonnes of rice and Tk 450,000 (4.50 lakh) in cash were allocated for over 100,000 flood-affected people. Mustafizur Rahman, executive engineer of Water Development Board at Dalia Division, said Teesta River was flowing 5 centimetres above the danger mark at Dalia point while Dharala River was flowing 135 centimetres above the danger level at Kulaghat point on Monday morning. To control the water, the Teesta Barrage Authorities opened its all gates the at Dalia point, he added. Many of flood victims claimed that people in 63 chars and char villages remained marooned by floods over the last five days but they got insufficient government relief, forcing most of them to starve. Rajpur Union Parishad chairman Mofazzal Hossain said in last five days, 50 houses were devoured by the river while the flood situation in 17 villages under his union worsened. But the administration allocated only 130kg rice for 25,000 flood-affected people. Saniajan UP chairman Abdul Gafur echoed the same adding that he received only 75kg rice and a poor amount of dry food for 6,000 flood victims. Waterborne diseases were spreading in the flood-hit areas. District Civil Surgeon Dr Amiruzzaman said about 54 medical teams were working in the flood-hit areas. However, no activities of medical teams were seen while visiting the spots. More than one hundred schools were closed as floodwaters entered inside the buildings. Rail communication of Dinajpur with Dhaka remained suspended since Sunday night as railway tracks in Dinajpur Sadar upazila went under water. The flood situation in Dinajpur remained unchanged as waters of both the Punorbhava and Atrai rivers were flowing 80 centimetres above the danger level on Monday morning, said sources at Water Development Board in the district. The flood situation in Kurigram worsened further on Monday following rise of the water level of the Dharala and Brahmaputra rivers. The Dharala was flowing 132cm above the red mark and the Brahmaputra 68cm above the danger level. However, floodwater started receding from inundated areas in Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat districts since Sunday night. An FE report adds: The government intensified its relief efforts for the flood-hit people on Sunday, as the natural disaster took a serious turn, officials said.    Under the moves it has allocated 10,630 tonnes of rice, 60,000 packets of dry foods and Tk 31 million for the flood-hit people in 20 districts. Out of the relief, 1,200 tonnes of rice and Tk 6.0 million have already been distributed among the flood-affected people.    A total of 586,000 people in 358 unions of various districts across the country have so far been affected by flood. Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya informed the media about the government's preparations on the disaster management at a press briefing in the capital on Monday.   The minister said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is monitoring the flood situation, and giving directives to the officials concerned to tackle the situation.   "The ministry is also cautiously monitoring the flood situation in various districts." He further said MoDMR has attached senior-level officials to the flood-hit districts to ensure better coordination for handling the natural disaster and proper distribution of relief materials among the affected people. The minister said he has given directives to all the DCs of the flood-affected districts to open shelter centres and constitute medical teams. He urged the medical teams to visit all the flood-hit areas, so that the people there can get proper healthcare services. Mr Maya also called upon the officials of Department of Public Health Engineering to make usable the tube-wells that have been submerged in flood water as well as to provide ample water purification tablets to the affected people.       talhabinhabib@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-08-15 05:00:07

More than 300 people have been killed in mudslides and flooding near Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown. A hillside in the Regent area collapsed early on Monday following heavy rains, leaving many houses covered in mud. Many people may have been asleep when the mudslide occurred, the BBC reports. The number of casualties is expected to rise. Locals were reportedly trying to recover bodies from the rubble and mud with their bare hands. The worst-hit area is thought to be the Regent district on the outskirts of Freetown, where dozens of houses were submerged when the hillside collapsed at about 06:00 GMT. Red Cross spokesman Patrick Massaquoi told a global news agency that 312 were confirmed dead and warned the toll could rise further. Another spokesman for the Red Cross, Abubakarr Tarawallie, told the BBC that at least 100 properties had been submerged and that some had collapsed after a section of Sugar Loaf mountain came down. Rogers said a huge humanitarian effort will be required to deal with the aftermath of the flooding.....

Published at: 2017-08-15 05:00:06

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) seized 47 bottles of foreign liquor from Raghunathpur border area in Benapole on Monday night. BGB camp commander Nayeb Subedar Shahid said that on secret information, a team of BGB conducted a drive in the area at night and seized the liquor worth Tk 0.2 million (Tk 2 lakh), reports UNB. However, no one was arrested in the drive.....

Published at: 2017-08-15 05:00:06

Police have cordoned off a hotel in Dhaka’s Panthapath in a raid to arrest a suspected militant. Hotel Olio International near Square Hospital has remained surrounded by a police team since Tuesday morning, said Sarwar Hossain, a sub-inspector of Kalabagan Police Station. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan spoke to the media about the Panthapath raid after paying his respects to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi Road 32. “Several law-enforcement agencies, including SWAT, have taken up positions on the scene. There may also be weaponry,” he said. A Tejgaon police officer said that they received information a militant was hiding out in one of the rooms at the hotel. Police suspect they may have bombs and other weapons with them, reports bdnews24.com.....

Published at: 2017-08-15 05:00:06