Continuous heavy showers of the last few days have become a threat for the Chandpur Irrigation Project (CIP), one of the largest projects of its kind in the country.
Stagnant water has submerged vast areas of Aman seedbeds creating panic among the farmers. Fish cultivation within the project area is also under the risk of being affected.
Moreover, the irrigation system is also falling apart as the water level of Meghna River has been on the rise. If this continues, a huge area of region is expected to be flooded affecting lives of thousands of people.
According to the Water Development Board of Bangladesh (WDB), CIP located at the confluence of the Meghna and Dakatia River was initiated in 1963 to solve the problem of flooding and improve the socio-economic condition of the people.
A multi-purpose project, CIP included flood control, drainage and irrigation facilities together with agricultural development. Within a 100km embankment, the project has 57,000 hectares of arable land, planned fisheries and 500,000 inhabitants.
For proper irrigation and flood control, modern sluice gates were constructed but due to non-maintenance one of them is not operational.
Moreover, locals alleged that due to unplanned embankment and roads constructed within the project by powerful people, flow of water has been disrupted.
A recent visit to the upazila’s Noachar, Collegechar, Dhanuachar, Gazipur, Charbashanta and Kalirbazar has found the areas to be under water. Fishes cultivated in these shoals have already been swept away the flood water.
A fish trader from Noachar Kamal Miji said they were facing loss worth some hundred crores Taka as their hatcheries were affected by the flooding.
Fisheries officer of Faridganj upazila Mahmud Mostafa said an emergency meeting had been called for next week. “I have informed the higher authorities about the situation and we are trying to estimate the loss.”
Zahirul Islam, agricultural extension supervisor of CIP, said: “We have a target of cultivating Aman on 16,700 hectares in the project this year. But the monsoon deluge has destroyed many seedbeds. If the farmers want to produce saplings again, they will find shortage of seeds.”
Deputy Assistant Engineer of CIP, Badr Uddin Molla, said they had been trying to pump out excess water by six machines. “Also the sluice gates of Haijmara and Charbagadi are operating. But the situation is not improving as the amount of rainfall is higher than the water pumped out.”
About the maintenance of the sluice gates, another CIP official Mohammad Alauddin said they could not do so due to lack of funding.
Mohammad Shawkat Ali, Chandpur WDB engineer, said they were trying their best and hoped that the water would recede in a week if it stopped raining.