A sudden rise in the Padma has damaged crops grown on the river chars of Rajshahi's Paba upazila, Prothom Alo's Rajshahi correspondent Shafiqul Islam reports. Farmers say pointed gourd, cucumber, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, cauliflower, cabbage and tomato rotted after standing in water for several days, and fields in Bagha and Godagari upazilas were flooded too.

The Department of Agricultural Extension puts the land hit by the flash flooding in the three upazilas at 309.59 hectares: 45.24 ha of vegetables, 85.39 ha of black gram (mashkalai), 11.46 ha of transplanted aman, 25 ha of transplanted aus, 102 ha of turmeric, 25 ha of papaya, 10 ha of guava and 5.5 ha of summer onion seedbeds. Bagha was worst hit, with 28 ha of vegetables, 62 ha of black gram and all 102 ha of turmeric; Godagari lost 10 ha of vegetables, 17 ha of black gram and 25 ha of aus; Paba 7.24 ha of vegetables and 6.39 ha of black gram.

At Alimganj in Paba on Sunday, early cauliflower, cabbage and tomato plants had rotted and some farmers were preparing the ruined plots again. Akbar Ali said one bigha of pointed gourd, 10 katha of cucumber and five katha of ridge gourd went under water and the rotten gourd vines had to be pulled out. "Even the pointed gourd plants that are still all right are dying now. Then everything is finished. How will we live?" he said.

Md Nazrul Islam of Kasba said water stood in his fields for about seven days, damaging 10 katha each of bitter gourd, cucumber and bottle gourd, one and a half bighas of brassicas, 15 katha of pointed gourd and five katha of tomato. He had spent about Tk 10,000 on tomato, Tk 30,000 on pointed gourd, Tk 10,000 on bitter gourd, Tk 20,000 on cucumber, Tk 15,000 on bottle gourd and Tk 30,000-35,000 on brassicas, and has had no help yet though extension staff inspected the land. Shahriar Rahman lost about 10,000 brassica plants he had hoped would sell for Tk 3-3.5 lakh; pointed-gourd grower Shamim Al Mamun put his loss on 15 katha at Tk 2 lakh.

Md Zahurul Haque, sub-assistant agriculture officer for the Alimganj block, said the char went under as the Padma rose from upstream and the crops were partly damaged; farmers saved about 60 per cent by raising bunds and draining water. Field staff are listing affected farmers and advising on nursing the damaged plants.

Mostafa Kamal Hossain, deputy director of the DAE in Rajshahi, told the paper that the areas along the Padma were flooded this year and crops damaged; the loss is being assessed and farmers will be assisted.

Source: Prothom Alo — Reporting: Shafiqul Islam, Rajshahi