Several thousand hectares of agricultural land with crops remained under floodwater in Sunamganj, Lalmonirhat, Bagerhat, Netrakona and Habiganj districts on Saturday, causing thousands of farmers to grapple with severe loss.
The boro crops of a haor at Madyanagar upazila in Sunamganj went under water on Saturday morning as a nonstop downpour since Friday morning caused more cracks in the protection dams.
The flood situation in the low-lying areas of Netrakona and Habiganj adjacent to haor regions may worsen and new areas may be submerged in the next few days, according to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre on Saturday.
The centre also issued flood warning for the low-lying areas of Moulvibazar district over a 72-hour period starting at 9:00am Saturday.
The Naljur River at Jagannathpur point in Sunamganj district; the Bhugai-Kongsho River at Jariajanjail point, the Someswari River at Kamalakanda point, and the Mogra River at Netrakona and Atpara points in Netrakona; and the Sutang River at Sutang Railway Bridge point in Habiganj were flowing above the pre-monsoon danger level, as per the warning.
The New Age staff correspondent in Sylhet reported that the boro paddy protection embankment of Boala haor at Madhyanagar upazila collapsed on Saturday morning submerging standing paddy before the eyes of the frustrated farmers who went to harvest the crops.
On Friday morning, rainwater entered Shaldigha haor of Madhyanagar as the crop protection dam of the Someshwari River collapsed, but the farmers after a daylong labour succeeded to stop the water, local farmers said.
Sunamganj Water Development Board’s executive director Md Mamun Hawlader said on Saturday afternoon that the low-lying areas of different haors were inundated after heavy rainfall in the last week.
He, however, claimed that more than 60 per cent of 2,23,511 hector of boro crops was already harvested.
Mamun said that the standing boro paddy of 15,353 hector of land were damaged so far in this season.
Local rice growers, however, alleged that the extent of damaged cropland would be more than doubled than the estimated amount by the local administration.
New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat reported that incessant rain for several days and the flood from upstream caused the water level of the Teesta to slightly increase.
Department of Agricultural Extension Lalmonirhat deputy director Saiful Arefin said the rise of water level sent various crops on about 200 hectares of land in the Teesta char in five upazilas of Lalmonirhat under water, while he hoped the water would recede quickly.
Teesta Barrage Dalia Water Development Board executive engineer Amitabh Chowdhury said that the water level of the Teesta was still flowing well below the danger level.
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha has reported that thousands of farmers were grappling with severe losses after unseasonal heavy rainfall flooded vast stretches of boro paddy fields at Kachua upazila in Bagerhat, submerging both standing and harvested crops.
According to the upazila agriculture department, around 7,300 hectares of land was cultivated with boro paddy this season, with expectations of a strong yield that was now fading amid the flood situation.
‘We were hoping for a good harvest this year, but everything has been washed away,’ said several affected farmers.
The FFWC in its bulletin issued on Saturday also said that the water levels of the Surma-Kushiyara rivers in Sylhet and Sunamganj, the Dhanu-Baulai rivers in Netrakona and Kishoreganj, the Khowai and Sutang rivers in Habiganj and the Manu and Juri rivers in Moulvibazar may rise over the next three days.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department in its weather forecast, issued at 6:00pm on Saturday, said that in the next 24 hours moderately heavy to very heavy rainfall was likely at places over Mymensingh, Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions.
