70 villages flooded, 30000 families stranded in Satkhira

Vast swathes of Satkhira Sadar and Tala Upazila are now submerged in water due to heavy rain. More than 70 villages of nine wards of Satkhira municipality, 10 unions of Satkhira Sadar and three unions of Tala upazila have been flooded as embankments were not renovated. More than 30,000 families have been stranded in water. Apart from 6,000 fish enclosers, 1,500 ponds and crab hatcheries, Aman paddy and vegetable fields have been washed away.

Elderly and children are being affected by water borne diseases with public suffering in rising trend. District Agriculture Extension Department and District Fisheries Department said that fisheries and agriculture sectors incurred a loss of around Tk 700 crore.

According to Satkhira Meteorological Office, 256mm of rain was recorded in 96 hours in four days from Saturday (September 21) to Tuesday (September 24) morning last week and 32mm of rain was recorded from Wednesday (September 25) morning to Thursday (September 26).

Md Saiful Islam, deputy director of Satkhira’s Agricultural Extension Department, said 5,452 hectares of land have been affected due to the excessive rain during the Aman season. Of this, 149 hectares of crops have been destroyed, with estimated losses exceeding Tk9 crore.

Satkhira District Fisheries Officer Md Anisur Rahman said excessive rain, especially in Shyamnagar and Satkhira Sadar, caused parts of the Bhetna River embankment to collapse, flooding nearby fish enclosures.