Water levels in rivers and haors in Sunamganj have started rising again due to unrelenting rain, creating fresh concern among farmers over harvesting, threshing and drying the remaining Boro paddy.
Farmers in the haor region are worried as weather forecasts predict more heavy rain in the coming days.
According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department and the Water Development Board (PAUBO), heavy rainfall is also expected in Cherrapunji, India, upstream, raising fears that the overall situation could worsen further.
According to BWDB, 115 millimetres of rainfall were recorded in Sunamganj between 9am on Thursday and 9am on Friday. Earlier, 108 millimetres of rain fell in the district on Tuesday. In total, 242 millimetres of rainfall have been recorded in the last three days.
During this period, the water level of the Surma River rose by 13 centimetres. At 9am on Friday, the river was flowing 1.72 metres below the danger level, which has been set at 6.5 metres ahead of the monsoon season.
Mamun Howlader, Executive Engineer of Sunamganj Water Development Board, said heavy rain is forecast both in Sunamganj and upstream areas of Cherrapunji, which may cause further rises in river and haor water levels.
“There is a risk of crop damage for farmers. However, at the moment, we are not expecting a major flood situation,” he said.
Farmers in the haor region said they have been struggling to bring harvested paddy home because of repeated rainfall since the beginning of Baishakh. Even when there is sunshine for one or two days, the paddy cannot dry properly before rain starts again. In many places, harvested paddy is still lying in the fields.
Bijon Sen Roy, general secretary of the Haor Bachao Andolan, said farmers have been facing one disaster after another this year.
“If there is sunshine for one day, it rains for the next two days. If we had at least a week of continuous sunshine, farmers could have brought the remaining paddy home. But under the current conditions, that does not seem possible,” he said.
According to the Agriculture Department, Boro paddy has been cultivated on 223,511 hectares of land across 137 small and large haors in Sunamganj, with a production target of around 14 lakh tonnes.
So far, about 87.40 percent of the paddy has been harvested across the district. A total of 194,768 hectares have already been harvested, including 148,231 hectares in haor areas. This means around 13 percent of the crop still remains in the fields.
According to an Agriculture Department estimate made 10 days ago, heavy rain and upstream flooding damaged around 20,550 hectares of paddy in Sunamganj, causing financial losses estimated at more than Tk 500cr. However, the damage assessment has not yet been updated.
Local farmers and agriculture-related stakeholders believe the actual losses are higher.
Mohammad Omar Faruk, deputy director of the District Agricultural Extension Department, said the final estimate of crop damage has not yet been determined.
“If the rainfall continues, the damage could increase further,” he said.