Torrential rain for the last few days during the monsoon at Chitalmari in Bagerhat has damaged vegetables and fishes worth Tk 20 crore. Around 10,500 families of farmers of the upazila were affected due to the rainfall.
Chitalmari Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Sifat-Al-Maruf and Senior Upazila Fisheries Officer Sheikh Asadullah confirmed the matter on Thursday.
However, the farmers of the area claimed that the amount of loss would be double of the estimation. The farmers who took loan are in a fix now.
Chitalmari Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Sifat-Al-Maruf said there are some 30,000 farmer families in the Upazila. There is a total of 35,000 acres of arable land in the Upazila. Paddy, betel leaf, tomato, pumpkin and other vegetables were severely damaged due to the rainfall for the last three days here. Primarily the damage was estimated at Tk 17 crore and 67 lakh. It will be increased, he feared.
Chitalmari Senior Upazila Fisheries Officer Sheikh Asadullah said there are 16 thousand enclosures and 6,958 ponds in the Upazila. Among them, Bagda shrimp is farmed in 2,500 enclosures and Galda shrimp is farmed in 13,500 enclosures. The fish farmers produce other fishes with the shrimps at enclosures and ponds. The farmers produce 5,000 metric tonne Galda shrimp, 3,000 metric tonne other fishes and 400 metric tonne Bagda shrimp. About 5,500 shrimp enclosures and 300 ponds washed away due to the rainfall of the last three days. So, the farmers faced a loss of at least Tk 1 crore and 21 lakh.
Fish farmer of Umajuri village Swapan Mondol, vegetable farmer of Kurmuni village Hridoy Bosu Buddha, Prokash Majhi, Mrinal Boiragi and Prodip Boiragi of Shyampara village, Tapash Bhakta of Sreerampur village, Uttam Barai of Pardumuria, Arun Sarkar of Durgapur village and many other farmers said our enclosures washed away due to the rainfall of the last three days. We could not save our fishes with nets. We took loans. We are concerned over repaying the loans, they added.
