Hundreds of thousands of farmers in Sunamganj are in a race against the clock to save paddy on more than 200,000 hectares of marshlands in the Haor region by strengthening dams or harvesting the crops early amid threats of a fresh flash flood.
Water was rising in the Surma and other rivers of the district on Friday after heavy rainfall in the upstream in India’s Meghalaya state, said Md Zahirul Islam, executive engineer of Bangladesh Water Development Board in Sunamganj, reports bdnews24.com.
“All the dams in Haor are at risk [of breach] because the rivers may start flowing above the danger level. If the water level rises past the danger level, most of the crops will go underwater,” he warned.
Floods in early April damaged paddy on around 6,500 hectares of land in the region during the Boro season, according to the government. The condition of the region does not support cultivation in any other season, therefore many farmers will lose everything if the floods damage the crops.
Md Jahangir Houssain, the administrator of the Sunamganj district, said the administration was working to strengthen the vulnerable points of the 80 major dams with the help of volunteers.
He also wrote to the government seeking farm labourers from other districts to harvest the crops before the croplands are submerged.
Bimal Chandra Som, deputy director at the Department of Agricultural Extension in the district, said the farmers harvested paddy on around 22,000 hectares of land out of 222,000 hectares.
“We’ve launched a campaign to swiftly harvest the rest of the paddy,” he said, adding that 392 machines, including combine harvesters and reapers, have been deployed.