The Padma has risen 1.50 metres in seven days at Ishwardi in Pabna. On 17 September the water level at the Hardinge Bridge point was measured at 10.88 metres; on 26 September it stood at 12.38 metres, close to the danger level of 13.80 metres. Hariphun Naim Ibne Salam, reader at the Pabna Water Development Board, gave the figures.
The sudden rise has spread fear among people living along the river. Cropland on the Padma's chars is going under, leaving char farmers worried. Char areas of Sara and Lakshmikunda unions in the upazila have been submerged. In particular, 325 hectares at Mollarchar and Bilbamni in Sara are under water, and water has entered sugarcane fields covering 225 bighas there. If the river keeps rising, the cane may be submerged.
Water under the bridge girders
At the Hardinge Bridge in Pakshi, water has now reached under 13 of the bridge's 15 girders, and could reach the remaining two at any time. The rise has flooded char land and crop fields around the bridge.
Sanjit Kumar, a boatman in the Hardinge Bridge area, told Jago News that the water had risen suddenly. "The Padma is full now. This is the most water in the river this year. There wasn't this much even last year."
Boatman Biswajit said: "The water has been rising for seven or eight days. I heard the Farakka barrage was opened towards the end of last month, but even then the Padma did not get this much water. I can't understand how it has risen so much so suddenly in a week."
Sattar Hossain has grown sugarcane on 30 bighas at Mollarchar in Sara union. "Water has got into the cane fields," he said. "If it keeps rising like this, the whole char will be under water within two to four days, and farmers will suffer heavy losses."
Rezaul Karim, an engineer at the Pabna Water Development Board, told Jago News the Padma was rising suddenly. "The danger level at the Pakshi Hardinge Bridge point is 13.80 metres, and the water level there is now 12.38 metres. There is no chance of it crossing the danger level. It will start falling within a day or two."
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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