Without urgent action, environmental collapse could lock Afghanistan into a vicious cycle of poverty, migration, and instability for generations to come. The war may have ended for now, but the battle to save Afghanistan’s environment, and the lives it sustains, is only beginning.
Beyond the immediate structural collapse and trauma, aid agencies are raising alarm over how the disaster will disproportionately affect women and girls.
As thousands of Afghans are loaded onto trucks for forced return, the crisis reflects not just the failure of diplomacy but also the erosion of trust between two interdependent nations. Unless talks resume on a more equal footing, analysts warn, South Asia may face yet another cycle of displacement, resentment and instability.
If the Maldivian government delivers as pledged, Olhuvelifushi could become a model island for infrastructure upgrade, climate adaptation and community uplift in the Indian Ocean region.
At least 16 people were killed and several others injured after a massive fire engulfed a garment factory and an adjoining chemical warehouse in Dhaka’s Mirpur area on Tuesday, October 14, exposing once again the fragile state of industrial safety in Bangladesh’s most vital economic sector.
The avalanche’s impact generated a powerful displacement wave that breached a second downstream glacial lake, releasing an additional 303,000 cubic metres of water – a combined total equivalent to 185 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The holding centres often lack necessities like water and sanitation, and the people held there are lucky if they even receive two meals a day, as food stocks are often too low to supply enough meals. The need for blankets and winter kits is increasing.
The government has committed to ambitious renewable energy targets – 50 per cent power generation from renewables by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2070. Coal remains indispensable in the short term. Plans to nearly double coal production by 2030 reflect the urgency to meet rising energy demands.