Water is rising in Padma and Mahananda rivers due to heavy rains. As a result, about 50,000 families in Sadar and Shibganj upazilas of Chapainawabganj have been trapped by flood waters.
Besides, crops grown on about 182 hectares of land in those areas have been damaged by the flood as well. The Water Development Board says the affected areas have been submerged because they are low-lying areas.
District office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) sources on Tuesday informed that crops and vegetables grown on a total of 182 hectares of land including 167 hectares of Aus paddy, 12 hectares of vegetables and 3 hectares of other crops have been damaged.
It is learned that Shajahanpur, Nayarayanpur, Alatuli, Charbagdanga unions of Chapainawabganj Sadar Upazila; Durlavpur, Paka and Wazirpur areas of Shibganj upazila have been flooded heavily. Of these, Narayanpur and Charbagdanga of Sadar upazila and Durlavpur and Paka of Shibganj upazila have been affected most severely. Saidur Rahman, a resident of Durlavpur Union said that he was in the middle of transplanting paddy on his 10 Bighas of land. Of that, the paddy of 6 Bighas of land has been submerged. He added that at least 10,000 families in 5 villages are now stranded. Momin Sharif, acting chairman of Narayanpur Union said, “The mighty Padma River flows through our area. About 20,000 families have been stranded due to the rise of Padma water level in the last four days”. A teacher named Sadirul Islam from Debinagar area said, “As the Mahananda water level rose in the area, about 3,000 families have become trapped by the water”.
Farmer A Salam of Shajahanpur area said his paddy planted on 3 Bighas of land has been washed away by Padma river. There are 5-6 thousand waterlogged families in his area.
Executive Engineer of the Water Development Board Mehedi Hasan said, “In the last 24 hours till Tuesday, the water level in Padma has risen by 10 cm and in Mahananda by 11 cm. At present there is 22.06 meters deep water in Padma and 20.45 meters in Mahananda. The danger level has been set at 22.50 meters in Padma and 21.50 meters in Mahananda.
He further informed, in a few days, the Padma river may cross the danger limit, but it will take the Mahananda some more time for that.
Thousands of families have already been trapped by the rising water as a few unions in the area are low-lying. This number can increase even further very soon, he added.
