Swelling Padma submerges crop fields in Pabna

The Padma River has been swelling rapidly over the past weeks, flooding low-lying areas and cropland around the river and shoal areas in three upazilas of Pabna.

Water development board officials claimed there is no chance of the river overflowing in the district, but riverbank residents and farmers said they are the worst affected as sudden water flow has submerged farmland.

"I have cultivated 250 bigha of banana at Char Protappur on the bank of the Padma. Most of my field submerged in the last one week. If the water stays for another week, the vast banana orchard will be badly damaged," said Md Sanaullah, a banana farmer of Char Protappur village.

In some areas, water levels have reached the top of banana trees, he said. Besides, radish and other vegetables on 12 bigha of land have already been damaged due to waterlogging over the week.

Another farmer, Md Hossain Malitha of Lokhkhmikunda village in Ishwardi upazila, said his 15 bigha of crops submerged in a week, and he now fears losing the entire yield. "I have cultivated 30 bigha of vegetables on the shoal land of Lokhkhmikunda village, of which 15 bigha submerged in a week. Water is receding from the crop field very slowly, so it will take another week or 10 days to remove. Then it will be hard to get the expected production," he said.

During visits to Lokhkhmikunda, Protappur, Shanikdiar, Vogirothpur and other shoal areas in Pabna Sadar and Ishwardi upazilas, vast shoal lands were found submerged as water levels have risen in the Padma.

Md Mahabub Alom, executive engineer of Pabna Water Development Board (WDB), said the river swelled due to heavy rainfall upstream but there is no risk of crossing the danger level this time.

"Padma is flowing at 12.77 metres, which is 1.03 metres below the danger level at the Hardinge Bridge point. The rising water level has flooded low-lying riverbank and shoal fields, but it will decrease within the next two days," he said.

According to the agriculture extension department, 315 hectares of cropland in shoal areas of Pabna Sadar, Sujanagar and Ishwardi upazilas were submerged in a week. Of the affected crops, 138 hectares are vegetables, 13 hectares are chilli, 114 hectares are paddy (Aman and Aush) and 50 hectares are banana fields, said Aditya Bishwas, a deputy assistant agriculture officer of DAE, Pabna.

"If the water recedes within a week, most of the crops will be saved, but if it stays for two weeks, most will be damaged. We are expecting the water to recede in the next few days. After that, we will get the exact crop loss," Aditya said.

Although the Padma and Jamuna are flowing through Pabna, the district has so far been saved from flooding due to the protection embankment, WDB and agriculture officials said.

They said the affected croplands are located outside the embankment.