Floodwaters Recede in Netrokona, Hardships Persist
The water level from the floods in Netrokona has started to go down, but the crisis is not over. Many residents are spending their days worried about how they will recover in the post-flood period. Rice and paddy have been ruined by the water, forcing these people into a difficult situation when it comes to finding food.
Most of the rural roads in the district remain underwater, making it hard to find work or communicate easily. About 25,000 hectares of Aman crops are still submerged. Additionally, 232 educational institutions remain closed, and nearly 100,000 people are still trapped by the water.
According to Md. Sarwar Jahan, the executive engineer at the Netrokona Water Development Board, since Wednesday afternoon, the water levels in the Kongso, Someshwari, Dhanu, and Ubodakhali rivers have been dropping rapidly. However, at the Kalmakanda point in the Ubodakhali River, the water is still flowing 5 centimeters above the danger level. The danger level at that point is 6.55 meters, while the water levels in other rivers have fallen below the danger line. It is expected that these rivers will drain quickly through the Dhanu River into the Meghna River.
According to information from the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in Netrokona, out of 5,953 kilometers of roads under LGED's jurisdiction, 1,638 kilometers are paved. The rest are cement-concrete (CC), reinforced cement-concrete (RCC), Megatam, carpeted, or dirt roads. Even in places where water has receded from the submerged roads, most roads are still unusable due to erosion in various spots. Many small and large bridges, box culverts, and connecting roads have collapsed in the flood, causing severe communication problems for people in the area.
Md. Nuruzzaman, the Deputy Director of the District Agricultural Extension Department, reported that 135,900 hectares of Aman crops were planted across the district's 10 sub-districts. Of that, 24,667 hectares of crops were damaged by the sudden floods, and 177 hectares of vegetable fields were destroyed.
District Fisheries Officer Md. Shahjahan Kabir said that 1,480 ponds and farms were affected, resulting in the loss of 723.43 tons of fish and fingerlings, causing about 82.4 million taka in damages.
Netrokona District Commissioner Banani Biswas informed the media that, so far, four lakh taka, 3,000 packets of dry food, and 80 tons of rice have been distributed. She added that more relief is being provided as needed.
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