The first experience of the great river Padma is nothing less than overwhelming, and slightly terrifying. I first came to face the mighty river as a young lad in my teens sometime in April of the momentous year of 1971. My first sighting came with two terrors. My father was fleeing Dhaka with the family with the hope of crossing the river to escape the brutal onslaught of the Pakistan army. Arriving at the banks, there was the Padda (Padma) before us with its glorious panorama. It seemed like an oceanic river, with no sight of the other side, and the frightening prospect of crossing it.
Nearly a thousand families on the bank of the Padma river in Daulatdia union under Rajbari’s Goalanda upazila are passing days in fear of erosion.
Abdul Hakim, a day labourer from Shilaidah village in Kushtia, faces increasing difficulty crossing the Padma to get to Pabna town. The once familiar passage across the Padma, a lifeline between his home and profession, has morphed into a daunting odyssey.
The mighty Padma now lies as a pale imitation of its former self. Depletion in the flow of water from upstream, along with deposition of silt, has choked the riverbed, rendering it nearly unrecognisable.
The city's recent eye-catching developmental transformation has been a matter of curiosity for many.
Shorn of its sacred grandeur the Padma has embraced its secularised and earthier image with some muscularity, audacity and flair.
The Russian Embassy in Dhaka today said Padma Bridge is a game changer as it offers multiple opportunities in terms of regional trade, investments, connectivity, employment, tourism, and many other fields.
The Bridges Division has formed a 14-member "main committee" for the overall coordination of the inauguration ceremony of Padma Bridge on June 25.
Padma Bridge will be named after the mighty river after all, not after anyone, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said today.
Three persons turn up dead in the Padma river after going missing from Manikganj during trawler capsize in a nor’wester two days ago.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said the Padma bridge will be named after the river as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has cancelled the proposal of naming the bridge after her.
This Padma is not the river they know. At Naria of Shariatpur, 20km from the Padma Bridge construction site, it has changed abruptly for sure. Once relatively calm and quiet in the area, it turned into an all-devouring river in just a few years.
Plying of all water vessels including launch and speedboats is suspended on Shimulia-Kathalbari route following an accident and due to strong currents in the Padma river.
The High Court has directed the government to immediately remove the embankment built on the Padma River at Shiloiunion under Munshiganj for collecting tolls from transports.
A large flock of very rare and colourful birds has brightened the banks of Padma river near Rajshahi City recently. The birds called Painted Stork thronged the shallows and shoals before the birdwatchers and photographers of the city.
We may thankfully sing the old Christian hymn “Humbly we adore thee, pelican” now that a Spot-billed Pelican is visiting Bangladesh
Two students go missing as a boat sank in the Padma river at Thanpur Kheyaghat in Bagha upazila of Rajshahi.
Hundred years are over and still counting! The 1.8-kilometre long Hardinge Bridge, one of the country's historical attractions, stands still and steady over the Padma river even today with its beauty and pride, running between the railway stations of Pabna's Paksey and Kushtia's Bheramara.
Flood situation slightly improved yesterday, but strong current of the Padma river began to eat away many houses at Lohajong and Tongibari upazilas in Munshiganj.
