Floods caused by continuous heavy rain have done extensive damage to agriculture, fisheries and livestock in Sitakunda, Chattogram. With no rain for the past three days and the water receding, the scale of the losses has begun to become clear.

Officially the losses stand at Tk 13 crore, but those concerned say the real losses are close to Tk 30-35 crore. The effect has already reached the markets, where vegetable prices have risen by Tk 10 to 15 a kg.

Preliminary figures show the upazila's heaviest losses were in agriculture, fisheries and livestock. According to data from the three upazila offices, the total loss is about Tk 13 crore: Tk 8 crore in agriculture, Tk 3 crore in fisheries and Tk 2 crore in livestock.

However, talking to those affected in these sectors suggests total losses of about Tk 30-35 crore, with agriculture and fisheries hit hardest. The losses have also affected the vegetable market: over the past two weeks, the price of every vegetable has risen by Tk 10 to 15 a kg.

In the upazila, 176 fish ponds have been damaged. In agriculture, 112 hectares of rice and 180 hectares of vegetables have been damaged, and in livestock, a total of 160 acres of fodder grass cultivation has been lost.

A visit to the area showed that land east of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway in the upazila is high, while the west side is much lower. Several days of continuous heavy rain caused waterlogging in the low-lying areas, and because most of the sluice gates on the sea coast are broken, the heavy rain created severe waterlogging.

Most of the upazila's farming is in Syedpur, Baroiyardhala, Muradpur, Barabkunda and Banshbaria unions, and waterlogging has also been worst in these five unions, so farmers, fish farmers and livestock keepers there have been hit hardest.

Shah Alam, a farmer in Syedpur union, said: "I grew ridge gourd on about 30 decimals of land, spending about Tk 25,000. Sadly, just as the ridge gourd started to fruit, the waterlogging from heavy rain burnt up the whole field. Nobody from the upazila agriculture office has come to inspect so far."

He added that the damage after this rain looks different: the rice and vegetable plants are quickly burning up, as though something toxic had come in with the water.

Mohammad Ayub Ali, a farmer from the Guliakhali area of Muradpur union, said he had grown bottle gourd and snake gourd on one acre and 40 decimals, at a cost of about Tk 4 lakh.

He said the sluice gate on the Guliakhali sea coast has six gates, four of which are broken. Water cannot drain quickly through two gates, so waterlogging occurs. There are about 300 farmers in his ward, each of whom has lost more than Tk 2 lakh, he said.

Selim Uddin, owner of a poultry farm in Syedpur union, said he had stocked about 1,000 chicks. When water entered the farm, about 500 of them died, a loss of about Tk 40,000-45,000.

Dipu Sharma, a fish farmer in Baroiyardhala union, said he and two friends had been fish farming together for a long time in six large ponds and water bodies. All of them were flooded by the heavy rain, causing a loss of about Tk 6 lakh.

Agriculturist Kalpana Rahman said: "We are visiting the field to inspect the losses. We will make a list of those affected and send it to the ministry. Action will be taken according to the ministry's decision."

Upazila fisheries officer Md Muntasir Billah and livestock officer Dr Kallol Barua said they would send lists of affected fish farmers and livestock keepers to the ministry and act on its decision.

Himu Mahajan, sub-assistant engineer on duty at the Sitakunda office of the Bangladesh Water Development Board, said most of the sluice gates in Sitakunda upazila were built in 1962, which is why most of them are now broken. Applications have been made to the relevant offices for new ones to be built.

He also said that if the upazila's canals were fully dredged, farmers would be freed from their problems in the rainy season.

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