Rising water in the Padma has flooded low-lying areas of Chapainawabganj, destroying hundreds of bighas of Aus paddy. The rice in these fields had only just come into ear, but as the land went under, farmers have had to cut the plants and feed them to their cattle. Far from recovering their costs, farmers are now carrying the burden of losses.

This was the picture seen on the afternoon of Sunday 17 August in Alatuli, Naranpur, Durlabhpur and Paka unions, described in the report as being in Sadar upazila.

Abdul Malek, a farmer in Paka union of Shibganj upazila, said he had grown Aus paddy on three bighas. The ears had just come out when the Padma rose and flooded all his land. He is cutting it to feed his cattle before it rots, but there is no gain in that. He spent nearly a lakh taka on those three bighas and asked where he would now find that money.

Another farmer, Shamsul Alam, said he spent Tk 20,000 to 30,000 on each bigha. Had the crop ripened, the cost would have been covered, but now everything is gone and he is feeding it to cattle. He took a Tk 40,000 loan from a local NGO and cannot see how he will repay it.

Local people said the upstream flow of the Padma floods cropland every year, but this time the water rose before the paddy ripened, so the damage is much greater. The chars of Sundarpur, Alinagar and Shajahanpur unions in Sadar were hit hardest.

A farmer named Ali Hasan said the paddy was his family's mainstay and this year it is all gone. He will now have to borrow to run the household. His home is also surrounded by water, and he said they did not know where they would go or what they would eat.

Dr Yasin Ali, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Chapainawabganj, said the upstream flow had submerged 2,252 hectares of cropland in several unions, and hundreds of bighas of Aus paddy were damaged. A list of affected farmers is being prepared, and steps will be taken to give them government support.

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