Flood situations improve in Munshiganj and Kurigram

Flood situations have improved in Munshiganj and Kurigram while it is still worse in Gaibandha.

Tens of thousands of acres of cropland have already been damaged in the flood in the districts.

This has left farmers scratching their heads about which way to live now.

Our Correspondent from Munshiganj reports: water is flowing below danger level at all rivers in Munshiganj.

It is flowing 36cm below danger level at Bhagyakul point of the river while at Mawa point it is 48cm below the danger level.

However, hundreds of people are still suffering as the recent flood has wreaked havoc in the district.

Many families are still living under the open sky with their livestock.

Crops of many fields have been destroyed and various water borne diseases have broken out as a post-flood effect.

Our correspondent from Kurigram reports: The overall flood situation has improved in Kurigram as water is falling in the Dharla, Dudhkumar, Phulkumar, Brahmaputra and Teesta rivers.

Some flood victims started returning home but residents of low lying areas could not because most of their homes are still under water.

Agriculture officials of the district said crops of about 40,000 hectares of land had been damaged in the flood.

With the recession of flood water, water borne diseases such as dysentery, diarrhoea and allergy have broken out. Moreover,  little fodder is available during the flood and so flood victims are being compelled to sell their livestock.

Government and non-government organisations are distributing relief among floof-affected people, but it is hardly enough for them.

Many flood victims told the Dhaka Tribune that they wanted work, not relief.

Kurigram relief and rehabilitation officials said 950 tonnes of rice and Tk12 lakh in cash were being doled out to the flood victims in the district.

According to a BSS report, different crops including T-Aman paddy on a total of 3,429 hectares of land owned by 36,000 farmers of four upazilas in the district have been damaged due to flood.

Official sources said water level of the river Brahmaputra, one of the major rivers in the country, continued to rise sharply for a couple of week until yesterday.

At one stage, the river crossed its danger level in the district inundating chars and river basin areas of Sundarganj, Sadar, Fulchhari and Shaghata upazilas.

As the chars and river basin areas of the upazilas went under flood water and remained under it over last two weeks, crops particularly T-Aman paddy were damaged, agriculture office sources said.

Of the total, some 3,105 hectares of land of T-Aman paddy were damaged, 124 hectares of seedbed, 100 hectares of Aus variety and 100 hectares of vegetables due to the flood, sources said.

Saiduzzaman, a farmer of Mollarchar area under Sadar upazila, said he cultivated Aman paddy on 5 bighas of land during the season but all the transplanted seedlings were damaged fully.

Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Mir Abdur Razzak said the farmers were suggested to replant the seedlings of late variety Aman paddy like Nazirshail and Ganzia paddy in the affected areas.

If it was not possible, the farmers were advised to go to farm early variety of robi crops to get desired yields to recoup the losses caused by flood, he added. Besides, as many as 17,074 houses of flood affected areas were also damaged due to the flood, said an official of DC office.

Due to the rise and fall of water level in the river Brahmaputra, erosion has taken serious a turn at different places including Kapasia, Ratanpur, Singria and Holdia of the upazilas, said acting district relief and rehabilitation officer and assistant commissioner Nazmul Huda.

Meanwhile, according to our Jamalpur correspondent, BNP Vice Chairman Abdullal Al Noman, also a former minister, visited flood-hit Islampur upazila and distributed rice, dry food and cash money among more than 200 affected people yesterday.