The bank of the main canal of the GK project has broken in Alamdanga upazila of Chuadanga, flooding Aman paddy on several thousand hectares of land. Water has also entered homes, and jute left to ret and fish from ponds have been washed away.

The breach happened at around 7pm on Wednesday (4 September) in the Kedarnagar-Kashipur area of Belgachhi union in the upazila.

Local people said a man named Raju Faraji had cut into the canal bank two years ago to lay a pipe for irrigating paddy fields. For the past few days water had been seeping out beside the pipe. On Wednesday evening about 100 feet of the GK canal gave way at that spot and water poured out. In moments, the canal water flooded Aman paddy fields on several thousand hectares in Kedarnagar-Kashipur and Damosh villages. Jute left to ret in the GK canal was swept away by the current, as were 5 to 6 fish-farming ponds.

Affected farmer Mohammad Ali said he had cut the jute from 1 bigha this year and put it in the canal water to ret. It would have been cleaned in a few days, but he has suffered heavy losses.

Asgar Ali, a farmer from Kedarnagar village, said the GK canal banks had not been repaired for a long time, and insects had made small and large holes in them. With the bank broken, paddy, jute and fish ponds on several thousand hectares have been flooded. Farmers have asked the administration for help to protect these crops.

Meheraj Ali, acting chairman of Belgachhi union parishad, said paddy on several thousand hectares had been flooded by GK canal water. The small canals in the area will be cleared to drain the water, he said.

Alamdanga upazila agriculture officer Rehena Parvin said it was not yet possible to say how much damage had been done. A probe committee would be formed on Thursday morning, after which the extent of the damage would be known.

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