About 1,200 bighas of planted boro paddy have gone under water after the Bil Harina embankment broke in Monirampur, Jashore, also flooding fish enclosures. The embankment broke at dawn last Saturday (22 February), and hundreds of villagers are working voluntarily to repair it.

A 20-25-cubit stretch of the Harina canal embankment suddenly broke at around 4am on Saturday. Local people announced it by loudspeaker across the area and tried all day on Saturday on their own to seal the breach and stop the water, but failed, and waist-deep water has built up. The same effort continued the next day, but the flow of water did not stop.

Local people say water has entered at least 1,200 bighas of boro paddy through the broken canal bank. After an announcement by loudspeaker in the morning, residents came and tried to build a dam with bamboo poles, but the current was too strong and they failed despite trying all day. As a result, 900-1,000 bighas of boro paddy are now under waist-deep water, and everyone in the area is worried about how far the water will spread overnight. The enclosure of a fish farmer named Bimal was flooded, washing away fish worth at least a crore of taka.

Farmer Ashim Roy said: "Because of waterlogging we cannot grow paddy in the rainy season. Now that the water had gone down we planted paddy, and that too has gone under water. We cannot work out how we will support our families now."

Upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Nishat Tamanna said she had inspected the breached part of the bil. Financial help will be given to build the embankment, and a list of affected farmers will be prepared and the necessary steps taken to give them financial help in phases, she said.

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