The flood situation in Chattogram has worsened with continuous heavy rain and hill torrents, bringing major disaster not only to daily life but also to farming and fisheries. About 20 lakh people are marooned, and around 10,000 ponds and fish enclosures and more than 14,000 hectares of farmland in the district have been damaged. Preliminary estimates put losses of fish and crops in the hundreds of crores of taka. The departments concerned have begun work to finalise the damage figures and prepare rehabilitation for affected farmers and fish farmers.

According to the District Fisheries Office, 9,933 ponds and dighis (large ponds) and 320 shrimp enclosures in 153 unions of 15 upazilas have been damaged, putting fish farming on about 4,100 hectares of water at risk.

Banshkhali and Satkania upazilas suffered most. In Banshkhali about 2,500 ponds and 310 shrimp enclosures went under water, and fish worth about Tk 41.50 crore were lost across the upazila. In Satkania fish worth about Tk 10.75 crore were washed away from 466 hectares of ponds and dighis.

Fish losses elsewhere were about Tk 8.50 crore in 1,620 ponds in Lohagara; about Tk 6 crore in 557 ponds and dighis in Karnaphuli; about Tk 5.94 crore in 383 ponds and dighis in Chandanaish; about Tk 4.50 crore in 756 ponds and dighis in Boalkhali; about Tk 3.68 crore in 1,435 ponds and dighis in Patiya; about Tk 2.70 crore in 533 ponds in Fatikchhari; and about Tk 1.50 crore in about 1,100 ponds and 10 shrimp enclosures in Anwara.

District Fisheries Officer Salma Begum told Jagonews24: "Chattogram has had its biggest flood in living memory this time. The upazilas of south Chattogram have been hit hardest. Because of the heavy rain and hill torrents, people in most areas of Satkania and Banshkhali are still marooned."

"Ponds, dighis and shrimp enclosures have been damaged to some extent in almost every area of the district's 15 upazilas," she said. "By the preliminary count, more than 10,000 ponds, dighis and enclosures have been affected, with Banshkhali hit hardest. According to the information so far, fish worth more than Tk 90 crore have been lost to the floodwater."

"The District Fisheries Office has taken steps to stand by fish farmers after the flood," she said. "As a first step, a damage report has been sent to the Department of Fisheries."

According to the District Agriculture Office, farmland has been damaged to some degree in every upazila of Chattogram by flooding and waterlogging. Preliminary figures show 8,768 hectares of Aus paddy, 652 hectares of Aman seedbeds and 4,907 hectares of summer vegetables damaged in the district.

The worst crop damage was in Banshkhali, Chandanaish, Sitakunda, Sandwip and Satkania upazilas. Aus paddy was damaged on 2,150 hectares in Banshkhali, 2,120 hectares in Chandanaish, 1,500 hectares in Sitakunda and 1,000 hectares in Sandwip.

Among summer vegetables, Chandanaish suffered most, with 830 hectares damaged, followed by 700 hectares in Sitakunda, 600 in Sandwip, 475 in Fatikchhari, 460 in Satkania, 455 in Patiya, 400 in Banshkhali and 310 in Raozan.

District Agriculture Officer Apru Marma told Jagonews24: "Several upazilas of Chattogram have been hit hardest by the floods and hill torrents. Among them, Aus paddy has suffered extensive damage in Sitakunda, Banshkhali, Chandanaish and Sandwip. In Chandanaish in particular, most of the land under Aus paddy and summer vegetables has gone under water."

"Agriculture is always the sector hit hardest by floods," he said. "We have made a preliminary estimate of the damage. Once the water has fully receded, a final report will be sent to the ministry, stating the affected farmers and the amount of land."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.