U She Thowai Marma

An area clear-felled for tobacco cultivation on the bank of the river Sangu in Bandarban. The chemicals used in tobacco farming also pollute the creeks – the main source of drinking water for hill communities. Photo: Syed Zakir Hussain
Panorama

How tobacco farming is speeding up deforestation in the hills

Deforestation and land erosion have resulted in reduced flow of the Sangu River, which is making lives even harder for people living in the river basin. PHOTO: SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN
Panorama

Vanishing forests, receding waters and impending disaster in the Sangu river basin

Nizam Uddin, the abducted manager of Sonali Bank's Ruma branch.
Bangladesh

Sonali Bank manager released as Tk15 lakh ransom paid to KNF

Representational Image
Bangladesh

Three bank robberies within 16 hours rock Bandarban, manager kidnapped

Shahidul Islam points to bullet hole in his window. Photo: U She Thowai Marma
Bangladesh

'I woke up late, so I survived': Man recalls day when bullets from Myanmar hit his house

A rice bank, established 18 years ago, in Boromodok area of Bandarban’s Thanchi upazila, is still helping jhum farmers during the two to three months of food scarcity each year. Photo: TBS
Bangladesh

The last of 'rice banks' in Bandarban ensures food security for jhum farmers

Photo: DC Bandarban/Facebook
Bangladesh

Manipuri weaver fashions full-length sari from banana plant

37km Alikadam-Poamuhuri road changes local economy
Bangladesh

37km Alikadam-Poamuhuri road changes local economy

Workers clean photovoltaic panels inside a solar power plant in Gujarat, India, July 2, 2015. REUTERS/Amit Dave
Economy

Bandarban farmers benefit from BADC’s solar power plants

The ethnic people of the Chattogram Hill Tracts use banana leaves to wrap vegetables as their traditional alternative to polythene, a process they say is not only eco-friendly but also healthy. PHOTO: TBS
Bangladesh

An eco-friendly way to keep vegetables fresh

Patenga Sea Beach was crowded with tourists during the Eid holidays. Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
Bangladesh

Tourism spots thrive with Eid holidaymakers 

Greed for land burns hills to ashes
Bangladesh

Greed for land burns hills to ashes

Coffee fruits have ripened at a garden of Chimbuk hill in Bandarban, 20km away from the district headquarters on the Bandarban-Thanchi road. According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, two varieties of coffee are cultivated in the hills — Arabica and Robusta. Photo: TBS
Economy

Coffee cultivation rises in the hills