Anisur Rahman Khan :
Farmers in five haor districts-Sunamganj, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Netrokona and Kishoreganj have been worried at the loss of their Boro crops due to unpredictable natural calamities like untimely floods.
Even, farmers of Sirajganj, Nilphamari and Kurigram are passing sleepless nights fearing loss of their crops due to unexpected floods as heavy rains occurred in the upstream in some Indian states.
Meanwhile, the extended portion of Gurmar Haor dam in Tahirpur upazila of Sunamganj district has broken. As a result dreams of thousands of farmers of Dharmapasha and Tahirpur have been dashed.
Local farmers, public representatives and administration officials have been reportedly trying to protect the dam for the last 15 days. The dam was broken on the side of the Watch Tower in Tanguar Haor at around 3:30 pm on Sunday.
However, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has suggested the farmers to harvest their Boro paddy when it is 75 to 80 percent nourished.
Though the water pressure in the Surma River in Sylhet slightly improved on Saturday due to a decrease in the slope of the Barak River in India, the water level of the rivers Jadukata, Patlai, Rakti and Boulai increased, which created fear among the farmers as the Haor protection dams are not yet free of risk.
Several dams of Chhatak under Sunamganj district are at risk due to rising of river water on Saturday night. Water is entering Fatar Haor after breaking the dams at Jhigli and Khanjanpur.
The Upazila Nirbahi Officer said that the farmers are working there to protect the dam.
Prabir Kumar Goswami, Superintendent Engineer of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) of Sylhet said that the water level in Surma was declining, which was good news, but danger will be if there is more rain in Cherrapunji.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), heavy rainfall likely in Bihar, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur, Sikkim and other isolated places is a great threat for Bangladesh’s farmers and their cultivated Boro paddy.
“The administration, local farmers and officials of the BWDB have been divided into several parts and are monitoring all the haor dams in the district so that it does not leak or break due to water pressure. Water is rising and we are still at risk,” Prabir Kumar Goswami told this correspondent.
It is learnt that 600 mm of rain fall was recorded in Cherrapunji in the last three days.
Water was flowing at 5.68 cm above the flood level in Haor, while water of the Surma river was flowing 6cm above the danger level till Saturday afternoon.
According to Sunamganj office of the Department of Agriculture Extension, some 222,805 (2 lakh 22 thousand 805) hectares of land have been brought under boro cultivation and they set a target to produce boro paddy worth Tk 3,200 crore.
The farmers would be able to harvest about 15 lakh tonnes of paddy if weather favours.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque said that the maintenance work of the dam in Haor areas has not been done at expectable level.
There are irregularities in the dam construction committee, which will be informed to the government, he added.
However, new Boro paddy has started to be into the warehouses of Chamraghat in Karimganj and Bhairab port, the main paddy markets of Kishoreganj district.
Thousands of maunds of paddy are coming to these places every day from several upazila including Itna, Ashtagram, Nikli and Mithamin in Kishoreganj, Khaliajuri in Netrokona and Sunamganj haor areas.
Farmers have expressed their dissatisfaction over the low price in terms of their production cost.
Newly harvested Boro paddy is being sold at Tk 650-750 per maund, which production cost was about Tk 800 per maund, farmers claimed.
Untimely flash floods caused by torrential rains in upstream Meghalaya likely to damage paddy fields on 4.02 lakh hectares in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrakona, and Kishoreganj.
The situation is particularly concerning as paddy grown during this season, called Boro, is the only produce of the farmers of the region. The land remain submerged for most of the year.
Early flash floods were the worst natural calamity in haor areas in 2017 when almost every paddy field was damaged.
