Bangladesh Studies

Development Issues of Bangladesh-III has been written with the theme: human development and quality of life in Bangladesh.

Groundwater has been the main source of water for drinking and irrigation. It is also the source of arsenic poisoning that affects millions of people in Bangladesh. Despite its importance, very little information is available in the public domain on this enigmatic resource. On the other hand, vast amounts of information exist in unpublished project reports and the like. For the first time, this book brings together the key elements of this work as well as presenting an up to date perspective on the problems and prospects for the future use of groundwater in Bangladesh.

The movement for Bangladesh was carried forward in the name of creating Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal). Implicit in the idea of Sonar Bangla was the vision of the society economically prosperous, free of exploitation, democratically governed. tolerant of pluralism and respectful of people’s rights. Several of Bangladesh’s leading social scientists, as well as American and European scholars come together in this volume to provide a carefully balanced and comprehensive assessment of the country’s first three decades of independent existence since 1971.

Muzharul Islam is the single most dominant influence on modern architecture in Bangladesh. Fifty eight years since he started his practice the influence continues. Other than the odd article here and there and references to his projects in others, there has been no major publication of his works. Muzharul Islam gave the first public lecture on his work at BRAC University in May, 2002 at the age of 78, when he had almost stopped designing. It was soon after his lecture that a book on his work was conceived. This was not an easy task since nowhere was his work documented.