Farmers of two upazilas in Kisoreganj are apprehensive they will incur huge losses, as their standing crops, especially Boro paddy, have submerged due to a collapsed flood control embankment.
The flood control embankment at Koishur collapsed three days ago, flooding the Boro paddy on around 1,000 hectares.
Another embankment, Bijoy Bandh, at Joisiddi union in Itna upazila collapsed five days ago due to heavy rains and an onrush of water from the hills across the border, submerging all crops on 2,000 hectares of land.
Two other embankments, named Sankirchar and Hashimpur, in Mithamoin upazila collapsed three days ago, submerging around 2,000 hectares of boro cropland.
While visiting the haor areas in Mitamoin upazila, this correspondent found that farmers were cutting the green boro plants, as the water level of the different rivers surrounding the district rises day by day due to the onrush of water from upstream.
Habibur Rahman, a farmer, said crops on 7,000 acres of land in the Daki, Charigram, Fulpur, and Kanchanpur areas have been flooded as the water level in the Daira and Duvi rivers has risen remarkably.
Md Abdullah of Hashimpur village in Itna said he had cultivated Boro paddy on 12 acres of land. But, his crops are now totally damaged.
Md Rois Uddin, chairman of Katkal Union Parishad, is concerned that Boro production might be seriously hampered if the situation deteriorates and the farmers fall into hardship.
Another farmer, Arifur Rahman, said: “Everything has gone under water in the untimely floods.” Farmers of Pachkanhia village were also seen taking the initiative to repair the dam on their own.
Mahmudur Rahman, a social worker of Itna upazila, said: “Thousands of hectares of paddy in my upazila washed away in this untimely flood. Boro is the only harvest these low lands have.”
The local farmers will starve if their harvests wash away, they will have to live on borrowed money, he said. He added, with uneasiness, that none of the governments since liberation have taken any steps to help farmers from such floods in the haors.
The Water Development Board in Kishoreganj found that the water level in the rivers marked a sharp rise following a downpour upstream, and the dykes collapsed under the heavy pressure of water.
Md Abdullah, UNO of Itna upazila, and Md Aziz Haydar Bhuiyan of Mithamoin upazila, admitting the incident, said: “We visited the areas. A lot of land has been damaged because of the early onrush of water, and we are taking necessary steps to remove the stagnant water and repair the embankments as soon as possible.”
Aumitab Das, deputy director of the Agriculture Extension Department in Kishoreganj, admitted that around 350 acres of Boro crops of the lowlands had indeed gone underwater.
“We urged the authorities concerned, especially the Water Development Board (WDB), to repair the damaged embankment as soon as possible,” he said.
“The situation is not so serious. It will not hamper production target,” he added.