Dulali Sarkar's family consists of six members. Even though they have their own tube well, water is not coming up for several days. As a result, the family is suffering endless hardships. On one side, there is a strong heat wave and on the other, there is a cry for water. The life of Dulali Sarkar's family is getting upset all together. He is running here and there to solve the water problem. But not a single drop of water is found anywhere.

Not only Dulali Sarkar's family. Such a picture for water thousands of families in seven unions of Baliakandi in Rajbari is prevailing. The Department of Public Health and Engineering said that the water level went down during the severe heat wave and dry season.

Baliakandi Upazila Public Health Engineering Department sources said that Baliakandi Upazila is different from Greater Faridpur due to geographical reason. The ground level of this area is lower than that of the surrounding area. Due to which the water level is dropping by 8 to 10 inches every year. The total number of families in Baliakandi is 50 thousand. According to the government policy, it is mandatory to have at least one tube well for every 5 families.

Accordingly, about 10,000 tube wells are required in Baliakandi. But officially 160 submersible wells have been installed since 2022 and 520 star tube wells since 2019 which is very little compared to the demand.

The tube wells installed by private enterprises are no longer producing water. Public Health Engineering Department said that the water level in Baliakandi is 15 to 22 feet below during the monsoon season. And during the dry season, especially in April, May and June, it falls below 32 feet. No. 6 tube wells installed for private purpose have a pumping capacity of 20 to 24 feet. Due to which there is no water in the region during the dry season. Only government installed star and submersible tube wells have water.

On Thursday (April 25), On a spot visit went to Paikkandi village of Sadar Union and found that almost every house has a tube well, but most of the tube wells do not have water. In some tube wells some water is rising in the morning and evening. Many people are collecting water from where there are government submersibles and star pumps.

Meanwhile, as there is no rain in the month of Baisakh, the worshipers are organizing special prayers and prayers in different areas of Baliakandi for rain.

Gholam Mortaba Riju, a resident of Paikkandi village, told Barta24.com that it has been almost a week that water is not coming out of the tube well of the house. A glass of water rises after 50 presses. His family is suffering from various problems due to lack of water. Especially children and old women are suffering a lot, he said.

Kamruzzaman Kamrul, a resident of Ilishkol village in Baharpur Union, told Barta24.com that they are not suffering due to lack of water. Animals are suffering more than this. The chickens in his house are panting for water. The effect of lack of water in intense sun and extreme heat is not only on humans but also on animals and plants.

Rahim Miah, a farmer of Mechuaghata area of Nawabpur Union, told Barta24.com that he is unable to grow crops in the field due to lack of water. Now is the perfect time to grow whole jute. The land should be irrigated and planted with jute seedlings. He is unable to plant jute seeds due to lack of water.

Baliakandi Upazila Assistant Engineer said that the demand for 10,000 tube wells has been sent to the government to ensure safe water. Rezaul Karim told Barta24.com that 60 percent of families in Baliakandi now lack water. Climate change is affecting the groundwater level in the region.

Every year the water level is going down. The coming days will be more difficult. In order to get safe water and enough water in dry season, tube wells should be planned and installed. Henceforth whoever installs tube wells must be submersible or they install tube wells. All these tube wells are also capable of drawing water from a level below 160 feet.

He also said that if tube wells are installed from now, there will be no worry for water for the next 50 to 60 years.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid a courtesy call on Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklauchauyua and Queen Suthida Vajrasudhabimalalakshman.

On Thursday (April 25), Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is visiting Thailand, met the King and Queen at the Amphorn Southern Throne Hall of Dusit Palace.

The Prime Minister's Press Wing said, in the meeting, they exchanged pleasantries and discussed various bilateral issues.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in Thailand on Wednesday on a six-day official visit at the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Sretha Thavisin.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended the 80th session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in the morning.

During her visit from 24 to 29 April, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh will hold bilateral talks with the Prime Minister of Thailand Thavisin.

Bangladesh and Thailand will sign a number of cooperation documents, including a letter of interest to negotiate a free trade agreement between the two countries.

Bangladesh and Thailand may sign an agreement on visa exemption for government passport holders, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on energy cooperation and two more MoUs on cooperation in the tourism sector and mutual cooperation on customs to expand ties.

36 years ago, the High Court announced the direct rejection of the writ petition challenging the state religion of Islam. In the observation of the judgment, the High Court said that the state religion Islam is not in conflict with the Constitution. Islam as a state religion does not violate the basic structure of the constitution.

A copy of the 52-page judgment was released on Thursday (April 25) after the judges who delivered the judgment signed it.

Earlier, a three-judge larger High Court bench headed by Justice Naima Haider signed the copy of the judgment. The other two judges of the bench were - Justice Kazi Reza-ul Haque and Justice Md. Ashraful Kamal

Three judges agreed with the decision to dismiss the writ. However, the junior judge of the bench Justice Ashraful Kamal gave a separate observation in the judgment.

The observation written by the bench's Senior Justice Naima Haider said that Islam as the state religion enshrined in Article 2(a) of the Constitution is not inconsistent with any other provision, not only the fundamental principles mentioned in the preamble of the Constitution. Although Islam is given 'state religion status' in the constitution, there is no obligation to give political status to the state. Article 2(a) must be read as a whole and it is clear that the inclusion of the concept of making Islam the state religion in no way undermines the constitutional rights of people of different faiths. It also does not affect the basic structure of the Constitution and does not create redundancy in the Constitution.

The impugned amendment also does not affect the concept of state religion as inserted in the Constitution, the judgment said. Therefore, we hold that recognition of Islam as the state religion by inserting Article 2(a) through the impugned amendment is not unconstitutional. In an attempt to simplify the matter, we have discussed the reasoning presented in our judgment.

Incidentally, the then President Hussain Muhammad Ershad added Islam as the state religion to the Constitution through the Eighth Amendment in 1988. Article 2(a) added to the constitution states that the state religion of the republic shall be Islam, but other religions may be practiced in peace in the republic.

Then 15 persons filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the validity of that provision on behalf of the Committee for Prevention of Dictatorship and Communalism. Many of them died. They are- Former Chief Justice Kamaluddin Hossain, Justice Debesh Chandra Bhattacharya, Justice KM Sobhan, Poet Sufia Kamal, Professor Khan Sarwar Murshid, Senior Advocate Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed, Professor Kabir Chowdhury, Artist Kalim Sharafi, Professor Mosharraf Hossain, Journalist Faiz Ahmed, Professor Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, Sector Commander CR Dutta, Writer Badruddin Umar, Professor Borhanuddin Khan Jahangir and Professor Anisuzzaman.

The delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended adjusting (increasing) the prices of fertilizers, electricity and gas to keep the balance of the budget for the next fiscal year 2024-25 and keeping subsidies at a tolerable level.

The IMF delegation to monitor the implementation of conditions under the loan program made the recommendation on Thursday (25 April) in a meeting with the Finance Department's budget division.

The delegation also sought to know what action was being taken against willful defaulters. Besides, targeted reduction of NPLs, especially of government-owned banks, and urgent implementation of pending laws related to banks and financial institutions.

Sources in the finance ministry said the government welcomed the government's adoption of a periodic formula-based price adjustment mechanism for petroleum products that would have reduced subsidies, as part of the mission meeting with the budget division of the finance division on subsidies.

However, to improve the overall budget management, it has recommended to increase the prices of electricity, gas and fertilizers to reduce subsidies in other sectors. In this context, the officials of the finance division said that the government will give adequate subsidy to agriculture for the time being keeping in mind the issue of food security. However, to reduce the subsidy on electricity and gas, the prices of these will be increased gradually.

The delegation, led by Chris Papageorgiou, head of the IMF's Development Microeconomics Division, presented these observations in a meeting with the Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance.

Financial Institutions Division Secretary Sheikh Mohammad Salimullah led the meeting on behalf of the government. At this time, the MD of Sonali Bank Afzal Karim along with the officers of the financial institutions division also with MDs of Janata, Agrani and Rupali Bank were also present.