Dhaka,  Sunday
13 October 2024

Floods Ravage Bhola District

Thousands of acres of rice fields inundated

Kamal Uddin Sultan, Bhola 

Published: 08:47, 27 July 2024

Thousands of acres of rice fields inundated

Photo : Messenger

The lower regions of Bola district, particularly the char areas, have been submerged under water for several days due to heavy rains and the high tide of the full moon. Without flood control dams, these areas face recurrent flooding, resulting in severe financial losses for local farmers. The latest deluge has inundated thousands of acres of Aush rice fields, compounding their woes.

Since the beginning of the current month of monsoon, there has been almost daily rainfall in the district. The pressure of the river's water has increased, and the flow of tidal water has also increased, causing several areas in the district, including the char areas and the mainland, to be submerged under water for several days.

Among the aus rice fields submerged in water are those in Gazipur Char, Mejher Char, Hajipur Char, Madanpur, Madhupur Char, Sonapur, Char Jahiruddin, Char Maniruddin, the entire Manpura Upazila, and Dhalchar, Char Patila, and Char Kukri Mukri in Charfashion Upazila, totaling nearly twenty thousand acres of aus rice fields that have been under water for several days.

Abdul Malek, an aus rice farmer from Madhupur Char, mentioned that every year, thousands of acres of aus and aman rice fields in this vast char are submerged due to floods and the river's water. If the rice plants remain underwater for many days, the farmers suffer significant financial losses that year.

In addition, the aus rice fields in Belumia and Beduria Unions of Bola Sadar Upazila, along with vegetable fields, have been damaged due to the lack of flood control dams. The local people have been demanding the construction of flood control dams for many years to protect their crops, but no action has been taken by the authorities, leading to frustration among the affected residents.

In response to this situation, the Deputy Assistant Agricultural Officer, Jasimuddin, from the Bola District Office of the Department of Agricultural Extension, confirmed the incident and advised the affected farmers to plant early aman rice in the damaged fields to mitigate their losses.

Messenger/Fameema