Crops including Ropa Aman, mustard, winter vegetables, and
paddy seedbeds on around 610 hectares of farmland have been damaged in the
aftermath of Cyclone Midhili in Chandpur, officials disclosed on Saturday.
Officials of other coastal districts informed damage of
paddy, vegetables and other crops damaged by Midhili. Around 190 hectares of
Ropa Aman, 140 hectares of mustard, 270 hectares of winter vegetables and 10 hectares
of paddy seedbeds have been damaged due to the precipitation carried in by
Cyclone Midhili. Visiting various places in Chandpur's Sadar and Faridganj
upazila, it can be seen that most of the Aman paddy land went under water due
to the cyclone. Md Habib, a farmer of Sobhanpur in the Sadar upazila, was seen
picking up the paddy from the water that he cut two days ago. He said that this
year he cultivated Aman paddy on 3.5 acres of land spending Tk around 1 lakh.
But most of the land is now under water. "I don't know what to do
now", Habib sighed. Abdul Khalek, another farmer of Balithuba West Union
of Faridganj Upazila, said that he spent about Tk50,000 and planted the BR-22
variety of rice on one acre of land. As this variety is very large in height,
all the paddy has fallen to the ground due to the intense windspeeds during the
cyclone. Khalek apprehends he will suffer huge losses this year, and sought
help from the government. Deputy Director of Chandpur Agricultural Extension Department
Dr Safayet Ahmad Siddiqui said that their officials are surveying the affected
areas. The extent of financial loss will be estimated as part of the survey
report, he added. Bagerhat Correspondent report, a total of 10,000 fishermen from
the coastal areas gathered at Dublar Char, popularly known as "Shutki
Polli" or Dried Fish Village, as the dried fish processing season kicked
off on November 3.
Every year, several thousand fishermen and hired hands flock
to the area to catch fish and make shutki (dried fish) in Shelar Char,
Narikelbaria, Majherkella and Alorkol of Sharankhola range of the East zone of Sundarbans.
The dried fish processing will continue till March, next year. Dublar Char
experienced intermittent rainfall for the past couple of days due to the
depression in the Bay of Bengal. Frustration gripped the fishermen at Dublar
Char as fish worth Tk one crore were damaged due to the rain. Khalilur Rahman,
in-charge of Dublar Char forest camp, said the authorities concerned informed
the fishermen about the inclement weather through loudspeaker. The stench of
rotten fish is prevailing in the area, affecting the environment and health of
the fishermen and others living on the char, he said. "It is difficult for
the fishermen to stay in the strong stench. It would be better to dump the fish
damaged due to the rain," said Kamal Uddin, chairman of Dubla Fishermen's
Group. Muhammad Nurul Karim, Divisional Forest Officer of Sundarbans East Zone,
said the extent of the losses caused by the rain could not be ascertained yet.
