AgribusinessDuring the 22-day ban to protect mother hilsa, mobile courts in Rajbari handed jail terms and fines to 21 fishermen caught fishing in the Padma in the 24 hours to 21 October 2025. The drives seized 143kg of hilsa and 383,000 metres of current net.
Thousands of open-billed storks are breeding in a family garden at Shibrampur in Rajbari, where owners and villagers guard them and ask the government to make it a sanctuary.
Fishermen caught taking hilsa on the Rajbari stretch of the Padma in defiance of the government ban were detained over 24 hours and given jail terms or fines.
Fourteen fishermen were jailed for catching hilsa on the Rajbari stretch of the Padma in 24 hours, and fish, nets and two boats were seized.
The administration in Rajbari detained nine fishermen in 24 hours for fishing in the Padma during the ban and jailed and fined them.
Drives on the Padma in Rajbari seized 50,000 metres of net, 5 kg of hilsa and a fishing boat that was auctioned for Tk 36,000.
Two Padma hilsa weighing 4.2 kg together were sold for Tk 17,640 at Daulatdia in Goalanda, Rajbari, to an expatriate living in America.
Two large hilsa caught in the Padma at Goalanda were sold on to an expatriate living in the United States for Tk 15,950.
Three people bitten by snakes in separate incidents in Pangsha, Rajbari, are under treatment at the upazila health complex.
Enamul Haque Sajib of Baliakandi, Rajbari, turned to fruit bagging after failing to find a job and now sells chemical-free mangoes above market price straight from his orchard.
Straw and grass prices in Rajshahi have more than doubled ahead of Eid-ul-Azha after heavy rain delayed the harvest, putting cattle farmers under pressure.
CropsRajshahi's mango calendar set 22 May for Gopalbhog, but on 17 May 2025 the variety was already selling in the city's markets at Tk 70-80, and buyers said most of the fruit was unripe. The agriculture department believed it came from outside the district.
Two hilsa weighing 2.6 kg in total, caught in the Padma at Daulatdia, sold at auction for Tk 10,400.
