Sharif, a resident of Jagatpur in Daganbhuiyan upazila of Feni, set up a poultry business with a friend after returning from abroad. The flood destroyed all 7,000 chicks and all the poultry feed in his four poultry farms. He moved some birds to the roof of his house, but many died there because they could not be managed properly, and he sold some of the rest.

"There has never been a flood in this area. We could not imagine that something like this would come and hurt us so badly. I have lost seven to eight lakh taka," Sharif told Jagonews.

He said they had been selling poultry feed wholesale, and many of the people they sold to had also suffered losses. "There is bad news from every direction."

Fish enclosures (gher) have been hit hardest by the flood in Feni. All the enclosures have been washed away, and fish farmers in the area face losses running into crores of taka.

Opi had four fish enclosures in the Jagatpur area. "The floodwater washed away my enclosures and those of everyone around me. The fish have all escaped and spread across the area, and people are catching the enclosure fish in the fields. I have lost about seven lakh taka. I was farming shrimp. Everything is gone," he told Jagonews.

Several other farmers in the area also described their losses and called on the government to come forward and help them.

On the ground, it was the time for rice cultivation. All the rice seedlings in the flooded areas have been destroyed by the water. Many farmers had already ploughed their land for transplanting, and some had planted. Local people believe post-flood rice cultivation will suffer.

Several affected farmers said everything they had invested had been washed away. The entrepreneurs had put all their savings into these farms, and having lost everything, many of them are deeply shaken.

Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter said at the Secretariat on Sunday (25 August) that the estimated losses to the fisheries and livestock sectors from the ongoing severe flood in 11 districts, including Feni and Sylhet, stood so far at about Tk 1,590 crore 36 lakh.

Giving details of the damage, the adviser said the recent flash flood in Chattogram, Sylhet and Khulna divisions had affected 86 upazilas in 12 districts. This flood, the worst in memory, caused widespread damage to the fisheries and livestock sectors as well as loss of life and property. Many cattle died or were swept away, infrastructure was badly damaged, and feed for livestock and poultry was destroyed.

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