OUR CORRESPONDENT
SYLHET, Apr 18: Reaping of early-variety Boro paddy has started in some areas of Sylhet; while farmers in most of the areas of the region would have to wait for a week or two for the full-swing harvest to begin as the stagnant water is yet to fully recede.
People of the haor areas are unable to accept the loss of the crop that is their dream for the entire year as many had to harvest paddy from inundated fields to use them as cow feed last week.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has prepared a detailed report on the extent of crop damage caused by early rains and rolling of upstream water from the Indian state of Meghalaya.
It shows Boro paddy on total 3,640 hectares of land was damaged totally or partially in three districts of the region during the period from 31 March to 6 April.
Of the total, in Moulvibazar district paddy was damaged totally on 162 hectares while in Habiganj district it was damaged totally on 80 hectares and partially on another 80 hectares.
In Sunamganj, the total area of fully damaged Boro paddy stood at 772 hectares and the area of partially damaged paddy stood at 2012 hectares. The total extent of damage has been estimated at Tk291.9 million (Tk29 crore).
However, a number of farmers claimed that their loss is much more. They demanded a fair calculation of the crop damage and steps for assistance.
DAE sources informed the FE that the affected areas include Kulaura and Juri upazilas in Moulvibazar; Nabiganj, Lakhai, Baniachang and Ajmiriganj upazilas of Habiganj and Shantiganj, Doarabazar, Jagannathpur, Jamalganj, Tahirpur, Dharmapasha, Chhatak, Derai, Shulla and Sadar upazilas of Sunamganj district.
Lamenting, "After planting crops on the land on credit, everything ends with a little rain," Ilias Mia of Sunamganj said crores of taka are being looted in the haor in the name of embankments.
Most of the embankments have been constructed without providing a proper water drainage system. If there had been a sluice gate in the structures, the rainwater would not have accumulated in the haor.
Meanwhile, activists of Haor Banchao Andolan have submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister demanding actions against officials responsible for construction of faulty embankments this year.
Deputy Director of DAE, Sunamganj, Omar Faruk said, "This year, most of the farmers' paddy in various haors was submerged leaving many of them affected."
Boro harvesting will start in full swing in the haors in a week or two as paddy has now started ripening in the areas.
The affected farmers will be given more fertiliser and seeds in the next season. In addition, talks have been held with the Water Development Board to determine the cost of building embankments in the future, including sluice gates, for a permanent solution to protect crops of the haor farmers, said the additional chief engineer of the Water Development Board (WDB), Sylhet region. Work will be done to build a proper water drainage system too, added the engineer.
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