news in brief
One gets life term in drug case
UNB, Kushtia
A court in Kushtia yesterday sentenced a man to life imprisonment in a drug case.
The convicted Rubel Hossain, son of late Sirajul Islam, is a resident of Bittipara village in Bheramara upazila.
District and Session Judge Aryp Kumar Goswami also fined him Tk 1 lakh. He will have to spend another year in jail if he fails to pay the fine.
According to the prosecution, a team of Rab-12 arrested Rubel from a passenger bus in Baro Mile area of Daulatpur upazila on October 28, 2017. They seized 785g heroin from him. Later, a case was filed with Bheramara Police Station.
Woman burnt to death in Kushita
UNB, Kushtia
A housewife was burnt to death in a fire that broke out at her house at Ramchandrapur village in Bheramara upazila early yesterday.
The deceased was identified as Saleha Begum, 55, wife of Ansar Ali of the village. Prabir Kumar Debnath, station officer of Kushtia Fire Service and Civil Defence, said the fire originated from husk and broke out at the cowshed of Ansar Ali around 2 am and soon engulfed his residence.
Saleha died in the fire while she was trying to bring out valuables from the house.
The fire gutted three houses, three cattle and valuables of the house. On information, a firefighting unit went to the spot and extinguished the blaze.
Groundwater level falling in northern region
OUR CORRESPONDENT, Nilphamari
Owing to unplanned lifting of water by countless deep and shallow tube-wells, the groundwater level is gradually falling in the northern part of the country. For this, the congenial condition for crops is being lost each year.
It is learnt from the Rangpur BADC regional office (irrigation) that though a groundwater management law was enacted last year, its implementation is not visible till now.
Sources say that nearly 50,000 deep and 450,000 shallow tube-wells lift groundwater during the pick time of IRRI-boro cultivation in the 16 northern districts, creating grave concern among conscious persons.
Rangpur BADC regional office (irrigation) sources revealed that about five years ago the water level was 15 to 20 feet below the surface in this region. But now it is 25 to 30 feet. This is cause of anxiety for them.
The executive engineer of the Rangpur BADC regional office (irrigation), Md Mizanur Rahman, told The Independent: If we can store rain water during the monsoom by creating reservoirs, the fall in the groundwater level can be resisted somewhat. Since it will not be possible for us to stop the lifting of groundwater for the sake of irrigation, we will have to put emphasis on making reservoirs to store rain water.
Md Mizanur Rahman said the government should enact a law so that nobody can operate shallow tube-wells whenever he/she wishes in peak hours.
Everybody should abide by the law for the sake of maintaining ecological balance.
Suspected drug peddler held
OUR CORRESPONDENT, Chapainawabganj
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested an alleged illegal drug peddler with 350 bottles of contraband Indian phensidyl from a mango orchard at Baliadighi Abdulpara village in Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj district on Tuesday night.
The arrested person was identified as Md Qayum, 20, son of Abdul Matin of Baliadighi Kalanipara in Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj.
RAB sources said during an anti-drug drive an operation team of RAB-5 from Chapainawabganj camp raided the aforesaid area at around 9:15PM and arrested Qayum with the bottles of phensidyl.
Later, the arrested person was handed over to the police of Shibganj than with a case.
