Bagerhat Correspondent :
Some 5 thousand lobster and shrimp farms were washed away in Bagerhat district by the recent unprecedented heavy onrush of river water accompanied with incessant heavy downpour. As a result, owners of the fish farms of the district suffered a heavy loss of Taka at least one hundred crore.
A good number of owners of fish farms lost their capitals and became destitute. Dr. Khaled Kanak, District Fishery Officer of Bagerhat told this correspondent, though the loss of the farmers yet to be ascertained officially the affected fish farmers deserve helps from both government and non-government organizations in order to make up their (fish farmers) loss.
It is learnt from the Bagerhat District Fishery Office that following the continuous heavy rain accompanied with tidal surge, the water level of all the rivers of the district like Baleswar, Bhairab, Panguchi, Pashur and Madhumati suddenly rose at least 3 feet above the danger level.
As result, water entered into the localities and about 5 thousand fish (lobster and shrimp) farms of 6 Upazilas (Bagerhat Sadar, Sharankhola, Morrelganj, Mongla, Rampal and Chitalmari) out of 9 were completely inundated. Consequently, fish farmers suffered a heavy loss of cash.
Fish farmers of Morrelganj and Mongla Upazilas are the worst affected. 2 thousand 2 hundred 65 of Morrelganj Upazila and 1 (one) thousand 7 hundred 65 fish farms of Mongla Upazila were completely inundated with water surge of the rivers.
It may be mentioned here that according to the government assessment, the cyclone Amfan that swept over the coastal areas of the country a few months ago 6 hundred 35 lobster and shrimp farms of the district were washed away. As a result, fish farmers of the district suffered a loss of Tk.2 crores 90 lak.
But according to the assessment of the fish farmers, the loss was more than that. But they (fish farmers) could not apprehend that the onrush of the river water will cause so much damage to their fish (lobster and shrimp) farms.
One Kazi Kamrul Islam of Rampal Upazila disclosed to the newsmen, the cyclone Amfan completely washed away a fish farm on a plot of lands of 5 hundred Bighas belonged to my family and we suffered a loss of more than Tk. 2 lakh. Later they re-started fish (shrimp and lobster) cultivation after borrowing loans from others.
He added, only 15 days ago they started to sell fish from the fish farm. But by this time fish worth Taka several crores of the (fish) farm were washed away by the unprecedented heavy onrush of the river water. “I do not know how much fish we will be able to collect from the farm after receding of the water” he said.
Fakir Mohitul Islam Suman, President of the Fish Farmers’ Association of Bagerhat district said, they were trying to make up the loss caused the cyclone Amfan and when the farmers started to sell lobsters, shrimps and other fish cultivated in their fish farms were completely washed away by the heavy onrush of the river water accompanied with incessant downpour and they suffered a heavy loss of Taka more than one hundred crores.
Dr. Khaled Kanak, District Fishery Officer of Bagerhat told the newsmen, about 5 thousand fish farms of 6 Upazilas of the district were badly affected by the onrush of river water and they have started work in the fileds in order to assess the loss of money suffered by the fish farmers of the district.
The Fishery Officer added, lobsters and shrimps were cultivated in some 78 thousand fish farms on 67 thousand hectares of lands in the district this year while 16 thousand metric tones shrimps and 15 metric tones lobsters were produced in the district in the last fiscal year.
