Mirza Shakil

Tangail’s mass-killing ground to get due recognition

The Water Tank area in Tangail town, one of the main mass-killing grounds during the Liberation War in 1971, is finally getting due recognition after over 50 years of the country’s independence.

1d ago

Tangail sari makers see low turnout of wholesale buyers

Tangail sari weavers and traders are so far disappointed with the low turnout of wholesale buyers at Karatia market in Tangail sadar upazila as they had hoped to make good sales on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr this year.

4d ago

Century-old craft under threat

The traditional craft of making shital pati mats in Tangail is facing a severe threat due to the shortage of raw materials and rising production costs. The lack of necessary capital has made matters worse for the craftsmen involved in this ancestral profession.

6d ago

Tangail general hospital: Lone X-ray machine inoperative for 5yrs

The only digital X-ray machine at 250-bed Tangail General Hospital has been lying inoperative for over five years, depriving patients of its service.

1w ago

Town’s main kitchen market in a shabby state

Park Bazar, the main kitchen market in Tangail town, has been in a sorry state due to lack of renovation work for long, causing huge sufferings to the buyers and sellers.

1w ago

Staff shortage hampers healthcare

Patients at Tangail’s 250-bed General Hospital have been struggling to receive adequate healthcare services due to an overwhelming number of patients and a shortage of staff, including doctors.

1w ago

Mulching method gaining popularity among farmers

Mulching method, a modern farming technic for producing quality vegetables and fruits, is gaining popularity among farmers in Tangail region nowadays.

1w ago

Cultivation of potato, maize on same land sees success

Farmers in Nagarpur upazila of Tangail have achieved success in growing potato and maize together on the same land.

2w ago

Killing century-old canal by turning it into a drain

The last nail is getting hammered in the coffin of Shyamababu’s canal in Tangail town. After more than half of the town’s main canal was converted into a central drain nearly three decades ago, now drain construction on the remaining part of the canal has also started. Through this, the 128-year-old canal is going to end its life, leaving the ancient town in fear of environmental disaster.

A good initiative falls short of goal

A Tk 3,020 crore government project to popularise cultivation on big plots of land with the help of modern agricultural tools has seen little success in the last two years.

End of an era: Last cinema hall in Tangail town demolished

Tangail’s cinema hall business began in 1950, with Lebu Chowdhury constructing Rawshan Talkies in a secluded corner of the then small town.

The death of Tangail’s red hillocks

The cutting of the red hillocks in Tangail continues. With the help of people with political influence, soil traders are allegedly cutting and levelling the hills every day. 

No bridge even two years after deadline

Even two years after the deadline, the construction of a bridge in Hugra of Tangail Sadar upazila has not been completed, causing immense suffering to thousands of people.

Coloured cauliflower showing bright prospects

For the first time in Bangladesh, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has succeeded in growing coloured cauliflower on an experimental basis.

Topu’s jute tea gaining popularity

In the 90s, Zakir Hossain Topu, a man from Tangail’s Aag Elasin village, went to the US to study alternative medicine. After completing his education, he returned to his village  and started working with different herbal items, including black cumin, trifola (amloki, horitoki and bohera), and moringa.

No sweet yield for Tangail beekeepers

Minarul Islam, a beekeeper of Shyamnagar in Shatkhira, set up his bee colonies next to the vast mustard fields of Tangail Sadar’s Gala area for the fourth time in November.

Too many patients, too few beds

Khadiza Begum, came to Khulna Medical College Hospital on December 30 from Satkhira’s Shyamnagar, with her six-year-old son Siam, who was suffering from high fever and shortness of breath.

Tangail, a town of traffic jams

Acute traffic jams have turned the lives of the Tangail city dwellers miserable, thanks to lack of necessary roads and poor planning and management of the authorities concerned.

Dr Samad’s ‘green heaven’

Dr MA Samad is rated as one of the best kidney disease specialists in the country. He wakes up early in the morning and attends to hundreds of patients at the Anwara Khan Modern Hospital in Dhanmondi of Dhaka.

A well-oiled operation to lift sand illegally

Illegal sand extraction is going on unabated along  Jamuna river in Tangail’s Bhuanpur upazila. Locals fear that unless authorities intervene in time, this will lead to  erosion in the upcoming rainy season.

Tangail, a city with no waste management

The Tangail municipality, established in 1887 during the British era, has no waste management system. As a result, garbage is being dumped at different points under the open sky.

Hill-cutting spree in Tangail

Tangail’s red-clay hillocks are being razed indiscriminately, creating an imbalance in the ecosystem and destroying biodiversity in the region.

No place to study

The construction of a school building in Tangail’s Basail upazila has not been completed in three years, hampering the education of the school’s children.

Crossing the river still an ordeal for them

Thousands of residents in Tangail’s Basail upazila have been suffering for a long time after a bridge over Jhenai river has remained completely broken for several years.

Cassava cultivation catching on in hilly areas of Tangail

Cassava farmers in the Madhupur, Ghatail and Sakhipur upazilas of Tangail are enjoying bumper harvests of the crop, which has changed the fortunes of many in the fertile, hilly region.

Rice mill pollutes air, damages crops

An automated rice mill named Daily Rice Industry Limited has been set up in Tangail’s  Icharchala village at Ghatail upazila recently.

Dhaka rally: BNP men in Tangail leaving homes in fear of arrests

BNP leaders have alleged that their activists in Tangail are leaving their homes owing to fear of being arrested in police raids ahead of the December 10 rally in Dhaka.

Poor infrastructure failing Tangail BSCIC estate

The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation’s (BSCIC) industrial estate in Tangail has long been gripped by a myriad of troubles, including poor roads and drainage system, according to industry operators.

These were schools once

Fifteen community schools in Tangail’s Basail upazila have remained locked for more than two decades. As activities in these schools are closed, weeds and bushes have taken over the buildings.

‘Save us from erosion’

Houses, croplands and other important establishments have gone into the Dhaleshwari river at Sahabatpur union in Tangail’s Nagarpur upazila following recent erosion.

‘Crops washed away overnight’

Farmer Shahidul Islam of Kukadair village of Gobindasi union of Bhuanpur upazila has cultivated different crops on his 12 bighas of land, after taking loan from local money launderers.

Tangail sari sales get Durga Puja boost

Local sale of saris, especially those made on handlooms by skilled artisans in Tangail renowned for their colours and designs, has apparently gone up marking the upcoming Durga Puja.

When authorities remain inactive

Residents of Hatia village in Tangail’s Dashakia union were all alone in their struggle to protect their lives and property from flooding, as the authorities had been indifferent to this matter for many years.

Rising demand, price of jute entice farmers

Farmers have been regaining their interest in jute cultivation over the past few years as both the price and demand for the golden fibre are rising at home and abroad. 

Development, but at what cost?

The once solitary, neat and green Tangail town has turned into a concrete jungle within a few decades after mindless tree felling, thanks to unplanned urbanisation.

Sugarcane production on the decline

Sugarcane production and acreages in Bangladesh have more than halved in the last two decades as farmers find it difficult to generate a steady stream of profit from the crop, official figures showed.  

In the end, it’s the children who suffer

By the bank of Jamuna river stands Char Chandani Government Primary School in Tangail’s Bhuapur upazila.

Chemically-tainted pineapples: The farmers’ perspective

Despite being delicious, pineapples grown in Tangail’s Madhupur upazila have grabbed media headlines for all the wrong reasons in the last few years.

Hills lost to greed

Many hilly areas in Tangail’s Ghatail upazila have been flattened due to rampant cutting of red clay hillocks by soil traders allegedly supported by local influential people.

Gang-rape, robbery on moving bus: Witness recounts horror

Hekmat Ali, the plaintiff of the case filed for robbery and gang-rape on a moving bus in Tangail, narrated the horrifying incident which occurred on the night of August 3.

Slow progress in BREB solar pump project

A project undertaken by Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) to install 2,000 solar-powered irrigation pumps has been advancing at a snail’s pace. 

Spreading light in remote area

A library was set up at Kachua village in Tangail recently in the name of the late Selim Al Deen, a playwright and theatre artist as well as founding chairperson of Jahangirnagar University’s Department of Drama and Dramatics.

Tangail’s madhupur: Foresters, Garo people at odds over land

Tensions have been brewing between members of the Garo communityand foresters over pieces of land in the Amtali forest of Tangail’s Madhupur upazila.

Jamuna devours 1,000 homes in Tangail

With erosion by the river Jamuna taking a serious turn, over 1,000 dwellings and vast tracks of croplands have been devoured in Tangail.

Poor Eid sales frustrate Tangail sari traders

Tangail sari weavers and traders are disappointed ahead of Eid-ul-Azha this year as the people’s decreasing purchasing power coupled with the ongoing flood situation in different parts of the country has led to poor sales, according to market players.

Pineapple prices frustrate farmers

Although pineapple yields in Madhupur upazila of Tangail have been good this year, growers have been left frustrated by a 40 to 50 per cent drop in prices for the highly popular fruit, according to local farmers and agriculture officials.

A young agro enthusiast helping farmers in Tangail

When the pandemic hit and in-person classes at universities were suspended, Shakil Ahmed, then a final-year student of agriculture department at Noakhali Science and Technology University, had returned home.

May 15, 2022
May 15, 2022

Grabbers feast on Tangail hillocks

A range of red hillocks -- it’s not only a great sight, surrounded by luscious Sal forests, but is also crucial in conserving the biodiversity of the midlands of Tangail and Gazipur.

May 2, 2022
May 2, 2022

Endangered red sandalwood tree found in Tangail’s Madhupur forest

Red sandalwood or blood sandalwood tree, which recently came to limelight due to popular Indian Telegu cinema “Puspa: The Rise”, has been found in Madhupur forest of Tangail.

April 30, 2022
April 30, 2022

Made In Tangail: Sari makers in overdrive

After a two-year-long wait owing to the pandemic, Tangail sari weavers have finally been able to dust off their looms.

April 20, 2022
April 20, 2022

Congestion around Bangabandhu Bridge: Gridlocks await northbound Eid journey

Eid holidaymakers heading for northern districts might get caught in gridlocks on both sides of the Bangabandhu bridge due to the expansion work on a 25km stretch of the Elenga-Rangpur highway.

April 9, 2022
April 9, 2022

Once there was a river

Once upon a time, the turbulent Bangshi river used to be one of the important rivers in central Bangladesh. However, the river is rapidly losing all its might and glory due to the filling up of its banks, mindless pollution and illegal grabbing.

April 9, 2022
April 9, 2022

‘Entertainment’ at the cost of cropland

The Forest Department is set to excavate an artificial lake at Amtali in Madhupur National Park to attract tourists, despite objections from the local ethnic minorities who fear this would damage their livelihoods and culture.

March 23, 2022
March 23, 2022

Peanut emerging as a major cash crop

The ever popular peanut has maintained a steady uptick in consumption for many years now, turning it into a major cash crop for local growers, especially those in char areas along Jamuna River in Tangail.

March 21, 2022
March 21, 2022

413-year-old Atia Mosque needs urgent renovation

upazila has been in a dilapidated condition for long due to lack of care and maintenance.

March 20, 2022
March 20, 2022

BSCIC fair in Tangail fails to live up to expectations

An ongoing fair in Tangail to display products of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) has been far from being able to draw buyers and visitors as per expectations, frustrating participants.

March 8, 2022
March 8, 2022

Sumis suffer in silence

In a chilly winter morning, a teenage girl was busy serving customers with tea at a roadside stall in Tangail Sadar upazila’s Khudirampur area.