The government will not build any more roads in haor region but flyovers will be constructed where necessary, said Planning Minister MA Mannan on Sunday.  The minister said this while distributing relief among flood-hit people of Patharia union in Shantiganj upazila in Sunamganj reiterating the Prime Minister’s stance against building roads in low-lying areas.  Read:Flood: Netrokona fish farm owners suffer losses of Tk 11.57 cr “The government has a mega plan for disaster response and rehabilitation of the flood-hit population has been given priority in it,” said MA Mannan.  Already the Prime Minister has visited the flood-hit region of Sunamganj and a big project will be taken for the devastated people here, he added.  “At first relief will be distributed and then will come the issue of rehabilitation. Those who have lost their houses will get assistance. The assistance is inadequate compared to the needs but humanitarian aid will continue and we will need to work jointly,” said the minister. Read: Flood waters receding again in Sylhet but food, water crises persist

Farmers of the Sunamganj Haor region are living in fear of their paddy being washed away by the Surma river. The farmers said that a portion of the embankment adjacent to Ahsanpur School collapsed on Monday night, sending torrents of water crashing into the farm land of the haor in Jamalganj upazila. Also read: Another embankment collapses in Sunamganj haor area; DAE says 95% Boro harvested According to them, vast tracts of farm land in the haor could soon be inundated if steps are not taken by the authorities concerned at the earliest. Ali Nur, a local farmer, said, “I cultivated paddy after taking a loan. But now all my hard work has been washed away." Some blamed the authorities for their negligent attitude. "Due to the failure of the authorities concerned in securing the embankment, we have suffered losses," said Raju Mia, another farmer. Also read: Sunamganj farmers fear crops loss as floodwater enters haors Around 5,200 hectares of land in this haor has been brought under Boro cultivation, said upazila nirbahi officer Bishwajit Deb. "The farmers are trying their best to save their crops."

Forty-one per cent paddy have been harvested until Wednesday in seven haor districts of the country, said the Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday. According to the ministry, 38 per cent paddy harvested in Kishorganj,73 per cent in Netrakona, 29 per cent in Brahmanbnaria, 37 per cent in Sylhet, 36% in Moulvibazar, 25 per cent in Habiganj and 42 per cent in Sunamganj. So far, crops on 9,700 hectares of land have been affected by recent flashfloods and heavy rains which is 1 per cent of the total cultivation (9, 50, 318 hectares of land), according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE). Also read: Flash floods damage crops worth Tk 100 crore in Sunamganj haors Boro paddy was cultivated on 4,52,138 hectares of land in seven haor districts and 4,98,180 hectares of land in non-haor districts, said the DAE. The government had directed the farmers to harvest 80% ripe crops considering the unvavourable weather in the region. The farmers were allocated sufficient numbers of combined harvester and reaper machines in these districts to assist them in cutting the crops in time, according to the Ministry. Also read: Second phase of flash floods hits Sunamganj haor region A total of 1,700 combined harvesters and reaper machines are currently being used to harvest paddy in haor region and of them 1100 are local while 350 were brought from other districts, added the ministry.

Upstream water running down hills following torrential rain in Meghalaya and Cherrapunji of India triggered a second phase of flash floods to hit Sunamganj on Sunday, overflowing the extended Gurmar Haor in Tahirpur upazila. The flooding has risked some 2,000 hectares of crops that are close to maturing for harvest. Farmers have been considering bringing forward their harvest since the first phase of flash floods. Khasrul Alam, a farmer from Golabari village, said from Saturday night water level in the haor increased and broke the old permanent dams at the edges. “If the water continues to enter croplands throughout the day, crops will get damaged. If the water pressure declines in the meantime our crops will be saved,” he added. Following the instruction from the administration, farmers in the haor region were seen rushing to cut half ripened crops as Matian Haor, Shonir Haor, Mohalia Haor, Somsar Haor again faced the risk of being flooded. Also read: Irregularities in maintenance of haor dams irk Agriculture Minister In the last 24 hours, 13 mm rainfall was recorded in Sunamganj as upstream mountain flooding continued to raise water level in rivers and haors in the region. According to the Water Development Board (WDB), at 12pm on Sunday water level in the Surma River was recorded at 5.87 cm, having risen 80 cm in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the water level in Jadukata River increased 71 cm and in the Patlai River by 43 cm. On March 30, Sunamganj haor region was hit by the first phase of flash floods which inundated at least 5,000 hectares of land causing Tk 100 crores worth of losses to farmers. Karuna Sindhu Chowdhury, Chairman of Tahirpur upazila parishad, said they had been struggling to save crops of Gurmar Haor for the last 15 days. “With the assistance of farmers, local leaders, and WDB officers, a risky dam in the Bagmara area was reformed but the second phase of the flood has already overflowed the high edges of the haor. Usually we don’t need dams in these areas. Already locals are working to resist the water from entering,” he said. Mujibur Rahman, a farmer from Joypur village said, “We are guarding the dams every night along with the administrative staff.” Rayhn Kabir, Tahirpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) said, ”The dams are not broken but damaged and are not in a very good condition as water pressure keeps increasing. The dams in the Tanguar haor area are at most risk as any of them can collapse at any moment.” Also read: Flash floods damage crops worth Tk 100 crore in Sunamganj haors Iqbal Al Azad, Jamalganj UP Chairman said,”We have instructed farmers to harvest 80% ripe crops to reduce their losses along with protecting the dams.” “Rainfall is likely to decline both upstream and downstream from Sunday”, said Md Jahangir Hossain, Sunamganj Deputy Commissioner quoting the Met Office. “The dams made of earth have weakened after handling water pressure for the last 15 days. But if we can hold on for a day or two more by working on the damages the danger will have passed as upstream rains are the main reason for flooding here,” he added. According to the district Agricultural Extension Office, this year Boro paddy has been cultivated on 222,805 hectares of land in Sunamganj aiming at a production of 14 lakh metric tonnes. So far, harvesting has been completed on just 30,530 hectares of land - around 14 percent of the area cultivated. According to WDB, 536 -km crop protection dams in 12 upazilas were to be established and reformed at 12 upazilas in Sunamganj, under 727 projects spending Tk 122 crore.

The government has undertaken a number of projects for the infrastructural development of the Haor regions, alongside better flood management with the aim of improving living standards for the inhabitants.