People should use their resources in a well judged manner

The global climate change always hits the poorest countries like Bangladesh by breaking down agricultural systems, deteriorating water scarcity, increasing the risks of diseases due to recurring floods, and storms like the Cyclone Sidre. The hurricane Sidre hit on 15^th November midnight in 2007 in the coastal districts particularly Khulna and Barishal while crossing Bangladesh from northern Bay of Bengal. The high tidal surge of 15-16 feet high and strong winds of 260 KM per hour made mass disaster for over 14 hours of strike.

The devastation was so severe that it would take about 10 years to recover from the losses. After Sidre, some people suggested the government to ensure not to take it as an opportunity to make quick money from felled trees, because we need to save the environment.   

Some people expressed their concern that the government should ensure selling of those plants so that some sort of condolence money can be obtained from the felled trees. Every country has different types of their own natural resources and there is no harm if the people use their resources in well judged manner.

Other people argued not to sale the felled trees because of that some crooked auction/ lease owner will cut fresh new trees along with those felled trees and will make extra unfair money by selling both the felled and fresh live trees together.

However, nobody took any decisions and the cyclone felled trees are still lying and being decaying in the coastal areas of the Sundarbans.  

Grow more Date palm tree in Sundarban area

In Bangladesh, you will find this date palm tree abundantly growing here and there without any special care from anybody. Normally the crow, shalik, bulbuli and other small birds act as the disseminator of the seeds of this date palm. However, there are some farmers who take initiatives to collect the plantlets from roadsides and transplant on the borders of their own lands.

The Date palm juice is obtained by removing the top thorny branches with a bend knife. During the early winter (October-November) the Juice collectors or the Gachi prepare the plant for juice production. After removing the thorny braches of the tree, normally they allow about 10-15 days for recovering the tree from the branch-removing shock. Next time, they make a small triangle on the tree-top for a shaving. They make a regular shaving on the upper skin of the triangle on the top of the tree with the sharp knife. A cut piece from a small bamboo is inserted to flow the juice towards a soil-made pot.

In the afternoon, the tree is shaved and the soil-made pot is hanged on the tree top for collection of the juice. The juice excreted from the shaved part of the plant and deposited in the pot. The juice is collected in the morning. Normally, a Gachi (Juice collector) can sale this fresh juice for drinking or he can make brown sugar (Guhr) by boiling the juice. A date palm can give about 350-450 liters of fresh juice in a year. The Brix ratio of the juice is estimated to be around 10 degree. On an average, about 40 kg of brown sugar or Guhr may be produced from a single date palm in a year.

We see a very promising potential from the date palm for an alternative to sugar production from sugarcane. Guhr has a very special flavor which is better than the white sugar produced from sugarcane. People of Bangladesh love to make different kinds of special, tasty, homemade cakes from this Guhr.

The tree is very smart in protecting itself from the hurricane, cyclone and storm. During 2008, I found a date palm tree in the Kochikahli area of Sundarban in Bangladesh. Kochikahli is a sea shore place adjacent to the Bay of Bengal.  That Kochikhali date palm hero saved himself from the cyclone Sidre and still it is standing on the beach. There are also some other coconut and palm trees are still living on that piece of land after Aila, another cyclonic storm that hit the area after the cyclone Sidre.

This hints show us that the date palm, coconut and Palmyra palms are the strong and smart enough that can help Bangladesh saving from the hurricane and cyclonic storm. We may take initiatives to plant these smart trees near the Sundarban area which can support us by regular sugar production and breaking the speeds of the cyclone regularly coming from the Bay of Bengal. 

Fishing is a Hobby-cum-Occupation

Bangladesh is full of small, medium and big water bodies that are very promising for freshwater fisheries production. However, due to excessive application of insecticides and pesticides in the rice fields, most of the areas have become unsuitable as natural breeding place for the different types of local fishes.

People living in the low land areas avail the opportunity of capturing fishes from the open fields after inundation with the flood water. Fishing is a Hobby-cum-Occupation in the low-land areas. This practice becomes a routine work during the monsoon rainy season, when it rains almost every day. 

In the remote villages almost every houses have a pond near them. The Beels, Haaors and other low land areas are teaming with fish, which provides most of the protein for people living in rural areas.

Nosimon is made in Bangladesh

Bangladeshi people are very creative. They can face their problems on their own way. Bangladeshi village mechanics have developed a vehicle, named Nosimon, somebody call it 'Bhutbuti'.  Definitely, Nosimon is that  vehicle, which is developed by the people, are being used by the people and is dedicated for the people.


Nosimon is made in Bangladesh.  It takes about US$500/= to build a Nosimon.  It is a good example of the creativity of Bangladeshi people.

In the village area in northern Bangladesh, a local mechanic can build a Nosimon in his garage without any sophisticated robotic production line. Generally, an 8-12 hp Diesel engine is required to build a Nosimon. 


Farmers never mind to go here and there by Nosimons. Although, Nosimon is not as comfortable like a deluxe car, i.e., Mercedes or a BMW, however, farmers enjoy it. Because, they can afford it and it can serve their purpose well. Do you notice the cow enjoying a ride behind the driver in this Nosimon in the picture? 


The local bus service owners hate the Nosimon owner; because, Nosimon owners are grasping a chunk of their earnings by offering a cheap alternative to the farmers.  The passengers are counting less fare which is very cheap in comparison with the bus and Rickshaw van. 


The Diesel engines required for building Nosimons are imported from China. Nosimon can carry 10 persons including a cow. Engines are fixed on the mild steel made chassis. The body of the Nosimon is made from local hard wood timbers. The rear axle is driven by v-belts from the engine pulley. Nosimon does not require a gearbox.


Probably, Nosimon is the cheapest private transport in the world that have such smart carrying capacity (farmers along with their cows) without any gearbox! 

Motorcycle could be a part of the solution of Traffic Jam in Dhaka City

Anybody who lives in Metropolitan Dhaka know that how the traffic Jam destroys the productive time here. Every year the metropolitan city dwellers losing millions of work hours just due to Traffic Jam. That creates a bad affect on the total productivity of the Citizens living in this capital city of Bangladesh. Thus, the gross domestic production of the country is directly affected by this traffic jam. Now a days, everybody is aware about the traffic jam and they are always talking about it in the seminars and workshops.

However, the total problem of the traffic Jam may be divided in to small fragments to solve the matter. Later, the small segments of the problem may be solved one after another for having a total cumulative success.

One of the aspects of the solution is just giving emphasis on the use of motorcycle. A motorcycle occupies less space than a sedan car or a microbus. About four motorcycles could be accommodated in the same space in the street which is occupied by a single microbus. A motor cycle drinks less petrol than a car. The primary investment for purchasing a 150 cc new motorcycle is less than one fourth of a reconditioned 1500 cc car. The maintenance cost of a motorcycle is also very minor in comparison with a car. However, a motorcycle has no roof to protect its passenger from rain and the sunshine.

In India, there are hundreds and thousands of motorcycles are being used, specially by the young people. India is producing their own motorcycles they need to give their citizens. Bangladesh can not produce motorcycles but can purchase some complex spare parts, (i.e., engine housing, crank shaft, bearings etc.,) from other countries and some simple parts can be produced in the country. Later both complex and simple parts may be assembled together for making a complete motor cycle. The Government can give incentive to the people towards purchasing of motorcycles by imposing less taxes on them.
Motor cycle is the symbol of small business, entrepreneurship and dynamism, young people love to use it. Young people is the symbol of energy and power. An young man with a motorcycle and a small business can boost up the total economy of a developing country like Bangladesh, yes, dramatically. 

Therefore, if you really want to contribute to the active development process of the economy of Bangladesh, try do it in a passive way first. Reduce the taxes on small vehicle like motorcycle. Please be kind to your people, especially to the working and effective group. It will help in developing small entrepreneurship and business, ultimately the economy at the grassroots level will be benefited by this. 


Economics of Bangladesh - if you want to develop it, primarily work on micro level first, which will push up the macro sectors as the logical consequence!

The Jamuna bridge is one of the most important communication landmark in Bangladesh

The Jamuna bridge is one of the most important communication landmark in Bangladesh. The construction work of the Bridge was started in late 1994 and was completed in June, 1998. The bridge has established a strategic connection through a four-lane road and a railway link between the eastern and western part of Bangladesh. The Bridge has also facilitated the transmission of electricity and natural gas and has integrated telecommunication links between Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh and the comparatively poorer districts in the Northern region.  

Earlier, before establishing the Jamuna Bridge, the north-western region faced slow growth due to soaring transport costs. The people living in the northern districts needed to cross the mighty river to reach Dhaka. Excluding the time needed on bus, on an average it took about 3 hours additional time just to cross the river by a ferry or a launch.

The Bridge is about 4.8 kilometre long, which is the longest in South Asia and the 11^th longest in the world. The bridge has substantially reduced poverty by promoting investment, inter regional trade and job creation, especially in the north-western region. At present, the farmers who are producing agricultural products has started receiving a bit higher profits due to savings in transport costs and time. This has encouraged the production of vegetables, livestock, poultry and different types of fruits including mango, jack fruit and Ber (Boroi) in the north-western districts. Farmers in the northern region are now able to market their perishable agricultural products quickly in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and other districts in the country. It has been estimated that over ten million people having benefited from the construction of the Bridge. 


People from the capital city Dhaka and port city Chittagong now can deliver their machineries and other imported materials quickly to the north-eastern districts by this Bridge. Establishing of such bridge is highly profitable in the long run. Considering the opportunity costs, people of Bangladesh needs another two bridges on some suitable places on this big Jamuna river.

Solar Energy is an Important Tool for Educating people

Solar Panel is a very good tool for converting solar energy into electricity. Although it is expensive till now, however, electricity produced from the solar panel may be used for operating mobile phones, radio, computers and other small gadgets. 

Although it is very expensive to establish a big Solar Energy set up for operating  heavy industries, but comparatively it is the cheapest energy source for the people living in remote villages for having a taste and flavour of modern livelihood. 

In island, Char, Beel and Haaor areas in Bangladesh, where there is no possibility of establishing connection from the national power grid during next 50 or even 100 years, solar energy definitely can perform there an active role for producing lights for educating the farmers in night schools, establishing 24 hours communication with cellular phones and technology dissemination through radio and television.  We need to remember that educated people is the primary prerequisite for a developed and rich nation. Therefore, we need to educate our people first. 

Three large rivers make the big Delta plain

The three big rivers, i.e., the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna make the big delta-plain of Bangladesh. The area of the country is about 1,47,570 square kilometers. About 13% of the land is covered by the forests and 17% of the land is covered with water bodies (like beel, zheel, haaor, baaor etc.,) homes and roads etc.

About 80% of the people lives in rural areas and they depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The country has a net cultivated area of around 8 million hectares and the cropping intensity of this land is on an average 180 per cent. Rice is the main cereal crop cultivated in the country. Other than rice farmers also grow jute, sugarcane, wheat, potato, maize, pulses and vegetables. In the hilly areas of Sylhet and Chittagong district beverage crops like tea and coffee also cultivated. The agriculture sector directly contributes about 25% of the Gross Domestic Product. The agriculture sector provides about 65% of the labor forces.