Flash flood damages 5,000 hectares of Boro crops in Sunamganj haors

Highlights

• 4,900 hectares of crops submerged in the district till Friday evening
• The highest crop loss was in Dirai as paddy of 3500 hectares of land in this upazila submerged
• Besides, 965 hectares in Dharmapasha, 200 hectares in Shalla, 100 hectares in Sadar upazila, 20 hectares in Doarabazar upazila, 85 hectares in Tahirpur and 30 hectares in Chhatak upazila have been submerged

Hundreds of farmers in Sylhet's Sunamganj are in great distress as flash floods caused by an onrush of water from the upstream have inundated Boro paddy on 5,000 hectares of land in 14 haors, which is expected to damage crops worth around Tk100 crore.

According to the local agricultural office, Boro production is likely to drop by 20,000 tonnes.

Locals said Nazarkhali dam of Tanguar haor in Tahirpur upazila broke down by floor on 2 April. Since then, one dam after another has broken and cracked. In many places, water is overflowing dams. Locals are volunteering in repairing damaged dams.

Though the amount of rain has decreased, the onrush of water continues, causing a rise in river water levels in many upazilas including Dirai and Sallah.

According to the Sunamganj office of the Department of Agricultural Extension, this time Boro paddy has been planted on 2,22,605 hectares of land in the district. Paddy production target has been set at 13,50,220 tonnes.

As many as 4,900 hectares of crops in different haors have been submerged in the district till Friday evening. The highest crop loss was in Dirai as paddy of 3500 hectares of land in this upazila has been submerged in water. 

Besides, 965 hectares in Dharmapasha, 200 hectares in Shalla, 100 hectares in Sadar upazila, 20 hectares in Doarabazar upazila, 85 hectares in Tahirpur and 30 hectares in Chhatak upazila have been submerged.

Bimal Chandra Som, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Sunamganj, said water was entering the haor through broken dams in some places and overflowing in others. The rain has decreased for two days. And if it does not rain, there will be no major damage.

Kasmir Reza, president of the Environment and Haor Development Organization, said, "As per our estimation, 6,500 hectares of crops have been submerged so far. A few more dams are at risk which may break down at any time."

Local farmers said at least 10 more haors are at risk. Nalua Haor in Jagannathpur is the most vulnerable as at least seven dams have cracked since Monday.

When the Bhurakhali dam of the Haor project-5 collapsed on Wednesday evening, the local farmers started repairing the dam voluntarily. On Friday also, farmers were seen working in the haor with bamboo to protect the dam.

Zahirul Islam, president of the project implementation committee (PIC) of the dam, said, "I have worked on the dam as per the instructions of the Bangladesh Water Development Board. For this project, Tk15 lakh was allocated but so far I have received only Tk7 lakh. I have completed the construction with my money. There were no irregularities in the work of the dam."

However, local farmer Rezaul Hasan complained, "The work on the dam was not completed on time. Many things were done hurriedly at the eleventh hour. As a result, the dam is breaking due to water pressure. We get paddy only once a year. If this paddy is submerged, we have to starve to death."

According to the Water Development Board, which works on the construction of dams in haor, 532.39 km of dams have been constructed in Sunamganj this year through 124 projects at Tk124 crore.

Denying the allegations of irregularities in the construction of dams, Sunamganj Water Development Board Executive Engineer Md Shamsuddoha said, "No crop protection dam has been broken so far. Some dams have cracks which we are repairing on an emergency basis."