People are returning home as floodwater recedes in Haluaghat, Dhobaura and Phulpur upazilas of Mymensingh, but the receding water is revealing the scars of the flood. The sudden flood has caused Tk 315.98 crore of damage to Aman rice and Tk 6.48 crore to vegetables, a total of Tk 322.46 crore across the three upazilas.

According to the agriculture office on the afternoon of Wednesday, 16 October, 10,560 hectares of rice and 18 hectares of vegetables were damaged in Dhobaura; 10,310 hectares of rice and 45 hectares of vegetables in Haluaghat; and 3,893 hectares of rice and 45 hectares of vegetables in Phulpur.

In money terms, Dhobaura lost Tk 134.75 crore of rice and Tk 1.08 crore of vegetables; Haluaghat lost Tk 131.56 crore of rice and Tk 2.70 crore of vegetables; and Phulpur lost Tk 49.67 crore of rice and Tk 2.70 crore of vegetables.

District relief and rehabilitation officer Md Sanowar Hossain said 1.57 lakh people had been affected in the three upazilas. Letters had been sent to the relevant departments to assess the damage, and details would be given after the survey, he said.

Kabir Sarwar Sujan, a farmer in Baghber union of Dhobaura upazila, said fish on 40 acres of fisheries and rice on 150 acres had been submerged and lost. "I have been farming fish, and rice with it, for 40 years. I never imagined facing such a terrible situation. Without government help there is no way to get back on our feet," he said.

Rafiqul Islam of Singheswar village in Phulpur upazila said all his rice land and vegetable fields had been destroyed. "I don't know what we will eat to survive. If the government does not look to us, we will have no other way," he said.

Phulpur upazila agriculture extension officer Kamrul Hasan Kamu said farmers were being gathered and advised on rehabilitation. They were being encouraged to grow mustard, maize and other crops on the damaged land, and seed for these crops would be supplied free of charge.

Dr Nasrin Akter Banu, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Mymensingh, said farmers had suffered huge losses in the flood. Alongside advice, an application had been made to higher authorities for support for them.

Haluaghat, Dhobaura and Phulpur upazilas were flooded on 4 October by continuous rain and hill runoff. More than two lakh people suffered, and roads, homes, rice and vegetable fields and embankments were badly damaged.

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