Home ›› 03 Jul 2022 ›› Nation
Floods have damaged crops worth around Tk 147.54 crore on 17,461 hectares of land in Kurigram and Bogura districts in the current season.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the losses in the agriculture sector caused by the floods in Kurigram have been estimated at a whopping Tk 127.54 crore.
A total of 80,035 cultivators have been affected by the floods, with 15,851 hectares of cropland in the district being partially or fully destroyed in the natural calamity.
This season, the farmers of the district cultivated 34,310 hectares of agricultural land. But due to the flash floods and heavy downpours, around 15,851 hectares have been inundated. Of these, 7,351 hectares have been damaged fully during the fortnight-long floods.
Apart from this, around 8,427 hectares of cropland have been damaged partially by the floodwaters. As a result, the production of a total of 35,055 metric tonnes of crops has been affected, which is 25.57% of the total crops.
The Aush paddy and jute have been affected the most, followed by vegetables.
Floodwaters have damaged 9,521 hectares of cultivated jute land of a total of 16,577 hectares, 3,580 hectares of Aush paddy of a total of 8,480 hectares, and 1,161 hectares of vegetables of 4,034 hectares of cultivated land in Kurigram.
The damaged crops in the district include Aman seedbed, jute, Aush paddy, sesame, vegetables, peanuts, banana, corn, chilli, ginger, turmeric, onion, sugarcane and lentil.
Shamsul Alam, a vegetable grower of Chararpar village under Kurigram Sadar upazila, said, “I invested Tk 50,000 from my own pocket and borrowed Tk 30,000 from an NGO. Also, I borrowed Tk 20,000 from a local lender at a high rate of interest. I have suffered huge losses.”
Another farmer, Jabbar Ali of the same village, said, “We hoped to make big bucks this year. But the flash floods washed away our dreams.”
Contacted, Md Abdur Rashid, deputy director of Kurigram DAE, said, “We have informed the higher authorities after estimating the losses. The affected farmers will be brought under incentive packages.”
“We have already received an allocation to bring 7,000 farmers under incentives which will help them recover some amount of losses,” he added.
Due to the surge of major rivers caused by the onrush of water from upstream and heavy rainfall, people of Kurigram district fear fresh flood.
According to media reports, floodwater has inundated many low-lying areas and char areas of the district, marooning over 20,000 people.
Many roads have been submerged in the district, snapping road communications.
Executive Engineer of Kurigram Water Development Board Abdullah Al Mamun said the water level of Dharla River and Dudkumar River has increased.
The first phase of the flood hit in the second week of this month and water started receding from June 22. During that time, many people took shelter in high places including roads and embankments as floodwater entered their dwelling houses. Thousands of people in flood-hit areas suffered from a shortage of food and drinking water.
Additional deputy director of DAE Bogura, Enamul Haque said the floods had damaged crops worth around Tk 20 crore on 1,610 hectares of land in four upazilas of the district. According to the latest report, jute and paddy crops have suffered the most in the floods.
“We are working to make a list of affected farmers and prioritising the distribution of incentives from the government among them,” he said.
Bogura Deputy Commissioner Ziaul Haque said, “The government will compensate the farmers in the district affected by the floods. We are prepared to deal with the situation.”
