More Boro fields go under water in Sunamganj haors

SYLHET, Apr 02: More Boro paddy fields have been submerged in vast haor areas of Sunamganj district in the past 24 hours for the fresh spell of waterlogging triggered by consecutive days of incessant rainfall and runoff from the upper reaches of Indian river basins.
Farmers in the affected areas in at least eight upazilas of the district are in extreme fear of losing the ripe Boro paddy, said officials the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
Boro paddy fields on 121 hectares of land have been damaged or rotten for the water stagnation in the district until Wednesday.
Contacted, Deputy Director of the DAE, Sunamganj, Omar Faruque told this correspondent that fresh 1,819 hectares of farmland have been inundated in the past 24 hours in various haor areas.
However, farmers claimed that about 40 to 50 per cent of the cropland has gone under water.
The affected upazilas are Sadar, Shantiganj, Doarabazar,Tahirpur,Jagannathpur, Jamalganj, Shulla and Dharmapasha. The paddy that was supposed to be harvested after just fifteen days is now rotting under water.
On the spot in haors areas, it can be seen that the green fields stretching to the horizon are now completely under water.
The DAE official further said, "We experienced 100 mm rainfall in March this year against only five mm last year."
According to local farmers, almost half of the land in the haor areas has already been submerged. They are helplessly watching the paddy being wasted due to the lack of any effective drainage system.
Farmers in Tanguar Haor area have also commented that it is practically ineffective to drain out water using irrigation machines due to the vastness of the haor.
However, they are trying to drain out water day and night by installing irrigation machines at their own initiative in some areas including Kailani, Rupeshwar, Goraduba and Banchapra haors of the upazila.
Same way farmers are using water pumps in other haors in Dharmapasha, Sadar and Shulla upazilas, the DAE official said.
Even though water is being drained out by machines, farmers are still worried about the rain.
Md. Shahanur Mia, a farmer from Tanguar Haor, said, "This year, I planted paddy on 14 acres of land. Of this, eight acres has been submerged under water. Even though the land was submerged before our eyes, I could not do anything. If there had been a system for draining out water, I would not have had to face this loss."
Another farmer from the same haor, Md. Jahangir Alam, said that due to continuous rains, almost half of the land in this haor has been submerged.
The situation is getting worse day by day due to the lack of an effective system for water drainage. If there was a sluice gate in the embankment, such a dire situation would not have arisen.
In addition, a permanent solution is necessary by dredging a part of the Monai River and the haor. Otherwise, farmers of this area will lose interest in paddy cultivation in the future.
Swajan Biswas, a farmer from Kailani Haor, said that a lot of land has been destroyed due to waterlogging. They have installed more than fifty irrigation machines at their own expense to protect the remaining land. He commented that more effective initiatives could have been taken if they had received cooperation of the administration.
According to the farmers, there was hope for a good harvest this year. But the untimely rain has dashed that hope. If effective measures are not taken quickly, they will face major financial losses.
Sunamganj Deputy Commissioner Dr. Mohammad Ilias Mia visiting the haor protection embankments in places said that if the canals outside the haor can be dug, there will be no obstacle to removing water. Basically, the embankment is built to prevent outside water. The issue related to the interests of the farmers, including the construction of sluice gates at appropriate places, is in the government's plan.

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