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Rain, water from hills trigger flash flood

Our Correspondent, Mymensingh
Hundreds of farmers in Kalmakanda upazila of Netrakona are facing great trouble in harvesting their Boro crops after the embankment of a beel has broken down due to heavy rain and onrush of water from hills across the border.
The farmers in eight unions also faced disaster due to flood last year, but this year they are facing sudden flood and heavy rain, locals said.
Boro paddy on around 28 hectares of land went under water as the embankment on Mandaura Beel, a local water body in Pogla union, broke down on May 12, and around 120 farmers were affected, said Kalmakanda Upazila Agriculture Officer (UAO) Abdullah Al Mamun.
There are around 150 hectares of land in the area and crops on 122 hectares have been harvested, he added.
Locals claimed that nearly 50 percent of the standing crop in the beel area was affected in the flood, and the farmers are still struggling to harvest their produce. They added that adjacent unions were also affected.
Now, it has become difficult to harvest the paddy from knee and ankle deep water, farmers said.
"The rate of day labourers has also gone up in recent days, making it more difficult for us," said Abdus Salam, a farmer of Munshipur village.
"The situation has put us in critical condition as the price is not reasonable and the NGOs are putting pressure on us to repay the loans,” said Phool Banu, a farmer of the same area.
Rajab Ali, a marginal farmer of Medhikanda village, said he cultivated Boro on one acre of land and the production was good, but the price is not fair.
The farmers are being forced to sell their produce at throwaway prices, the UAO said, adding that one maund of paddy is being sold at Tk 500 to Tk 650, which is much lower than the government rate of aroundTk 1,000 per maund.
Around 21,380 hectares of land were brought udder Boro cultivation in the upazila this season, he said.
Pogla Union Parishad Chairman Md Rafiqul Islam said Boro crop was inundated in the flash flood, but the water has
started receding and the farmers are harvesting the paddy.
The production was good but recent heavy rain and flood have upset the
farmers, the chairman added.
Kalmakanda Upazila Nirbahi Officer Arifuzzaman said he visited the affected areas and asked the authorities con-
cerned to support the farmers.
Repairing of the embankment with sandbags and bamboos started a couple of days ago, he added.