Three months of heavy rain have flooded about 4,000 bighas of farmland in Narayanpur union of Chaugachha upazila, Jashore, directly affecting at least 10,000 families. Yet a drain just half a kilometre long would be enough to carry the water away.

Local farmers say that with no permanent drainage, the upazila's farming suffers huge losses every year. This time, they fear, the losses could exceed Tk 50 crore.

The Sonabele and Phastala fields lie between the villages of Chandpara, Goyatuli, Baro Khanpur, Kesmat Khanpur, Badekhanpur, Naranpur, Bandalitala and Batikamkali in the union. Rainwater now covers the wide fields of crops, and paddy, banana, jute, dragon fruit, guava orchards and various seasonal vegetables have been ruined.

Local farmers say these fields have been under water every monsoon for the past 30 years, putting their lives and livelihoods under serious threat.

"We grow paddy, maize and jute here. But every year, just before harvest, everything goes under water. Year after year our farming is under threat," said farmer Mofizul Islam.

Another farmer, Abdul Malek, said: "If there were no water in the fields, we could harvest three or four crops a year. Now this land has become single-crop land. It is not only the farmers who lose; the whole farm sector of the area is badly affected."

Local farmer Tariqul Islam Dablu has written to the Chaugachha upazila nirbahi officer and the upazila agriculture extension office seeking a permanent end to the waterlogging. He said the local administration has taken no action even though the land floods every year, while a half-kilometre drain carrying the water into the Kapotaksha river at Chaugachha would end the farmers' suffering.

He also alleged that a local chairman took the initiative to build a drain 30 years ago, but it stopped for unknown reasons, and no one has thought about them since. He urged the upazila administration to build a drain quickly to drain the 4,000 bighas permanently.

Upazila agriculture officer Mushabbir Hossain said excessive rain this year had caused waterlogging in Narayanpur union. Aman rice is grown on 1,750 hectares in the union; this year about 1,200 hectares have been planted and 500 hectares are still waterlogged. The Department of Agricultural Extension is working jointly with the upazila administration to solve the problem, he said.

Chaugachha upazila nirbahi officer Farzana Islam said farmers had submitted an application for a permanent solution, and the upazila administration is working on it seriously.

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