Bangladesh News

Cyclone Aila-hit farmers after suffering huge loss in Aus production may miss the Aman season because of saline waterlogging in large coastal areas as the damaged embankments are yet to be repaired.

Officials and experts fear the Water Development Board (WDB) would not be able to fully repair the embankments before the rainy season as it is difficult to collect necessary soil to repair huge breaches.

Agriculturalists say marginal farmers would become very vulnerable if they miss the coast’s main crop Aman after the Aila. They suggest that the government take very special and immediate care to ensure these farmers’ livelihood and rehabilitation.

According to official figures, the cyclone on May 25 damaged 1,742.53 kilometres embankments, crops on about 3.23 lakh acres of land, 157 bridges and culverts and about 1.5 lakh livestock.

Vegetables, oil seeds and moogdal were also damaged in the most affected Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Barguna, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barisal, Noakhali, Laxmipur and Chittagong districts.

The government immediately released Tk 41 crore and 25,000 tonnes goods for WDB to repair the embankments before the rainy season. The army also joined the task in Satkhira.

“We have completed around 30-40 percent of repairing work and hope to do the rest by July 15 if there is no strong tidal surge,” WDB Director General Azad Abul Kalam told The Daily Star.

However, it became very difficult in some areas to find necessary soil. As a result, repairing some extensively damaged embankments may not be possible in time, he added.

A number of government and NGO officials also fear a large part of the damaged embankments may not be repaired.

“Around a quarter kilometre embankment by the Ramnabadh river in Kalapara merged into the river. I don’t think this could be repaired shortly,” said Niruttam Kumar Sarker, upazila agriculture officer of Kalapara, Patuakhali.

He said in Patuakhali alone over 40,000 hectares of land was inundated by saline waters because of the damaged embankments.

“If the dams are not repaired and brackish water flows during high tides, farmers cannot grow Aman crops,” he added.

An NGO official in Satkhira said major breaches on the dam in Gabura union could not be repaired yet.

Thousands of people in Gabura are still staying on the embankment, he said, adding, “They are selling livestock, whatever they still have, at cheap rates as they cannot feed them. These people have become very vulnerable.”

Shahidul Islam, national consultant for Food and Agriculture Organization, said during a recent visit to the Aila-hit areas he found the farmers are leading a miserable life.

“They missed Aus and are going to miss Aman if the embankments are not repaired,” he observed.

Developing saline-tolerant varieties is a must for the coastal districts, Shahidul said, adding the authorities must develop the coast’s irrigation system for Boro production. Farmers hardly produce Boro in the coast where there is over 10-lakh hectares of arable land.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to provide seeds and fertilisers worth Tk 1,016 each for Aman production to over 3 lakh farmers.

However, speculations are rife that the move may hardly work.

“Saline water will remain and silt with tides would destroy Aman if embankments remain in the miserable shape,” comments an agriculturist in Patuakhali.