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Download PDF Around 10 lakh tonnes of Amon rice production may be lost due to Cyclone Sidr along with other standing crops in an area of eight lakh hectares of land, according primary assessment of the agriculture ministry.
The government has already decided on a number of strategies to recover the losses, as the full assessment of the crop damage will take more time, agriculture ministry sources said.
A top ministry source said to overcome this loss, the government may bring more land under Boro cultivation, or encourage planting hybrid seedlings for better yield. Already the agriculture department has earmarked 43 lakh hectares of land for Boro cultivation.
“The cyclone has mainly affected production of Amon, vegetables and mustard in the south-western region,” the source said.
The cyclone affected 161 upazilas out of 173 upazilas in 24 districts. The standing crops in these districts spread across 22.30 lakh hectares. The cyclone has affected 38 percent of these crops.
The damage was extensive in case of vegetables, he said.
The two rounds of flooding in July and August had forced the government to rely on a good Amon production as a compensatory measure. But, the cyclone frustrated this strategy.
Agriculture Secretary M Abdul Aziz pointed out, “The crop damage was caused in two ways, strong winds and tidal waves. We are hopeful that within a week or so we will get a full account of the damage to agriculture. On getting this account, we will decide on our next course of action.”
DEATH TOLL
According to the Disaster Management Control Room (DMCR), the death toll rose to 2,837 yesterday from 2,753.
The DMCR list shows that death toll in Barguna district was 979, Bagerhat 713, Patuakhali 426, Pirojpur 374, Barisal 88, Jhalakathi and Bhola 41 each, Madaripur 40, Gopalganj 34, Satkhira 19, Shariatpur 17, Khulna 16, Faridpur 13, Narayanganj and Munshiganj seven each, Chandpur four, Dhaka six, Narsingdi three, Moulavibazar and Laxmipur two each, Narail, Rajbari, Jessore, Chittagong and Noakhali one each.
The number of missing was put at 2,176 yesterday. The number of injured at 18,588.
The Armed Forces Division meanwhile put the death toll at 3,153 yesterday from Monday’s 3,113. The Armed Forces Division puts the number of missing persons at 1,063.
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT
The Disaster Management Control Room’s updated damage assessment says that a total of 200 upazilas with 1,700 unions have been affected by Sidr.
The number of affected families is 13.22 lakh representing 54.88 lakh people.
Crop on over 1.53 lakh acres of land were destroyed and 12.66 lakh acres were damaged.
The cyclone destroyed 4.58 lakh houses and 6.65 lakh houses were damaged.
About 3.52 lakh livestock were killed in the cyclone.
The number of education institutions destroyed is 1,780 and 5,537 were damaged.
Around 538km of road was heavily damaged and 87,948km partly damaged. About 1,654 bridges and culverts were also damaged.
Around 315km of embankment was damaged and 16.84 lakhs trees were uprooted or broken.
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