Heavy downpour damages aman seedbeds, plants
Aman seedbeds at Nilganj village in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali district get flooded due to heavy downpour and tidal surge. Kalapara Radar Station recorded 206mm rainfall in the area in 30 hours till 12 noon yesterday.Photo: STAR
Heavy downpour in the last few days flooded large areas in Patuakhali and Pabna districts, badly affecting agriculture and disrupting normal life. Lowland areas and over 100 chars (islands) in seven upazilas under the district got flooded due to heavy rain and tidal surge, reports our Patuakhali correspondent. Over 2000 hectares of aman seedbeds went under water, said sources of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE). Life became paralysed due to continuous rainfall in the coastal district. Kalapara Radar station recorded 206 mm rainfall in last 30 hours and 700 mm in last seven days while Patuakhali Met office recorded 103.8 mm rainfall in last 24 hours till 12 noon yesterday. Communication between famous tourist spot Kuakata and other parts of the country got snapped as gangways of four ferries on Patuakhali-Barisal road went under water for hours during the high tide yesterday. Vehicular movement remained suspended on about 11 km road from Pakhimara to Kuakata on Patuakhali-Kuakata road as it became unusable due to heavy downpour. Over 10 loaded trucks and passenger buses got stuck at different places on the 11 km road as large potholes appeared there, said sources of Roads and Highways Department in Patuakhali. Launch communication on all 20 internal routes remained stopped since Sunday morning as BIWTA asked owners of below 65-feet-long launches not to run the vessels during the rough weather. Lowland areas and over 100 islands in seven upazilas in the district are flooded with 5-8 feet high tidal surge and rainwater. Over 40 islands in Galachipa, 20 in Dasmina, 15 in Kalapara, 10 each in Baufal and Mirzaganj upazilas, five in Dumki and two in Sadar upazila have been flooded with tidal water under the influence of depression. Fishes worth several hundred crore taka have been washed away as many hatcheries and ponds got flooded, said sources of district fisheries office. Most parts of Kalapara, Galachipa, Mirzaganj upazila towns are also flooded with 2/3 feet tidal water. Our Pabna correspondent adds: Lowland areas in nine upazilas of the district as well as parts of Pabna town are now under water as the area has seen unusual rainfall during the last few days. Ishwardi Met office recorded 352 mm rainfall in last seven days in Pabna while 129 mm rainfall was recorded in the whole of August last year. Aman plants on at least 1,000 hectares of land has been washed away in Pabna Sadar, Ishwardi, Atghoria and Chatmohar upazilas under the district during last few days, DAE sources said. "Aman cultivation has remained stopped for a week due to the heavy rainfall. Aman on 20 thousand hectares of land has so far been transplanted in the district although the target is 48 thousand hectares this year," said Md Shahin, development officer of Pabna DAE. Several farmers said some 25 percent of the cultivated areas across the district has been flooded and the situation will turn serious if the rain continues one or two weeks more. DAE officials, however, claimed that aman cultivation will not be hampered because the water will recede when the rain stops. In Pabna town, Mokhtab, Noorpur, Shalgaria, Radhanagar, Sadhupara, Singah, Barabazar Colony, Library Para, Gobindha and Central Jail areas are the worst affected due to the recent flooding.
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