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Flood wreaks havoc on early winter crops in Pabna

Fresh areas inundated in Rajshahi, C'nawabganj as rain-fed Padma swells

Star Country Desk
Fresh areas of Rajshahi, Pabna and Chapainawabganj went under water yesterday as the mighty Padma continued to swell.
The flooding caused massive damage to early winter crops in Pabna, reports our correspondent.
Fresh areas of Pabna Sadar, Ishwardi and Sujanagar upazilas went under water in last two days, said officials of the Water Development Board (WDB).
"The Padma is flowing 7 centimetres above the danger level at Pakshey Hardinge Bridge point as the water level has risen by five centimetres in last 24 hours. The rise may continue next two or three days," Md Mosharaf Hossain, assistant director of Pabna WDB, told The Daily Star.
However, no massive flood is expected as the water level in the Jamuna remains normal, he added.
Md Azahar Ali, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Pabna, said the ongoing floods caused serious damage to early winter crops.
"Over 12 thousand hectares of land beside the Padma have been brought under cultivation of early winter vegetables and pulses but the crops on 1730 hectares have already gone under water.
"Approximately 27,500 tonnes of early winter crops worth Tk 7 crore have been damaged, affecting 6,000 farmers in six upazilas of the district. If the water level continues to rise for two or three more days, the damage will be immense," the official said.
Md Abdullah, a flood affected farmer of Char Sanikdiar village, said, "The sudden flood damaged bean on my five bighas of land. Now I am living on an embankment as the floodwater also entered my house."
Md Sirajul Islam, the district's relief and rehabilitation officer, said they are making lists of flood-affected people for conducting relief work.
Our Rajshahi Staff Correspondent reports: The WDB yesterday identified at least six points of Rajshahi City Protection Embankment as risky due to strong current of the swelling Padma.
Five hundred geo sandbags have been
dumped at the risky points of T-groyen, Police Lines, Rautha, Alaipur, Tangon and Kuthipara areas while some 2000 sandbags are kept ready at Police Lines point to deal with any unwanted situation, said WDB Executive Engineer Shahidul Alam.
"The water level rose by 10 centimetres in 24 hours till 6:00am today [Wednesday!-However, it is still below the danger mark," he said.
Water from the Padma inundated vast low-lying areas, mostly in different chars of Rajshahi, affecting some 4000 families, said district administration officials.
Some 350 families at Char Khanpur are now marooned, said Kohinur Begum, member of Haripur union parishad.
Paba Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Shahadat Hossain yesterday visited Char Khanpur and distributed relief materials among the affected people.
Our Chapainawabganj Correspondent adds: Onrush of water from the upstream triggered floods in the low-lying areas of ten unions under Shibganj and Sadar upazilas in Chapainawabganj, leaving ten thousand families marooned.
The affected unions are Alatuli, Char Bagdanga, Narayanpur, Debinagar and Shahjahanpur of Sadar upazila and Monakasha, Ghorapakhia, Panka, Durlovpur and Ujirpur of Shibganj upazila, said Hasanuzzaman Fouzdar, district relief and rehabilitation officer.
People are badly suffering as a large number of dwellings went under water, said Kamrul Hasan, chairman of Alatuli union parishad.
Many people have taken shelter in safer places with their cattle, said Kamaluddin Huda, chairman of Narayanpur union parishad.
The Padma was flowing 30 centimetres below the danger level at Pankha point of Shibganj upazila in Chapainawabganj yesterday morning.
Its water level rose by 11 centimetres in 24 hours till yesterday morning, said Atikur Rahman, sub-divisional engineer of Chapainawabganj WDB.
The water level of the Mahananda also saw a similar rise, he said, adding that it was flowing 21 centimetres below the danger mark.