UNB, Sylhet :
Farmers of Sylhet’s Companiganj upazila are a worried lot, as their paddy fields have got submerged due to the onrush of hill water for the last two days.
Some 400 bighas of cropland are already under water in Companiganj, according to the upazila agriculture department. And the worst hit are Fuksha Haor, Bhai Kuri, Moter Kuri, Dewar Kar, Kapna Kuri, Daila Haor, Akhai Kuri, Kanglaghati and Daram Haor of the upazila’s South Ranikhai Union.
Deputy assistant agriculture officer Pankaj said that though only 50 bighas of paddy land in Ichakals union is under water, the Patharchauli Haor protection dam can breach any time. “A disaster is waiting to happen,” he told UNB.
Alamgir Alam, chairman of East Islampur union parishad, said that with the help of locals, “a dam was built in Rauti Haor”. “However, the dam breached in strong currents, submerging paddy fields.”
Raihan Parvez Rony, upazila agriculture officer, said, “If the flow of hill water continues, all the boro crops in the upazila will be damaged.”
Boro has been cultivated across 5,850 hectares of land in the upazila this year, said the officer.
Fakhrul Ahmed, deputy assistant engineer of the Sylhet Water Development Board, said that an 8.561km-long crop protection dam has been constructed at Haor in Companiganj. Although the dam is strong enough, it will be difficult to protect the crops in the area in case of an overflow.”
Upazila nirbahi officer Lusikanta Hajong said the low-lying areas were flooded by the sudden onrush of hill water. “However, our crop protection dams are still in the safe zone. A list of affected farmers is being prepared.”
