Paddy fields buried under sand

Thousands of farmers across Feni were devastated by the recent flood between August 16-26 following heavy rains and onrush of upstream water from Tripura.

Even though the floodwaters receded in a few days, its aftermath is likely to leave a prolonged impact on the district's agriculture as a deep layer of sand and silt got deposited across vast stretches of croplands, a problem never witnessed by the farmers there before.

Visiting different areas under Parshuram upazila of the district recently, this correspondent saw around 1,500 bighas of Aman paddy fields buried under several feet of sand and silt.

According to the upazila agriculture office, sand and silt got deposited across more than 4,000 hectares of agricultural lands with different crops in Parshuram, as well as numerous ponds and waterbodies, hundreds of fish farms, roads and houses .

"My 10 bighas of cropland went under five feet deep layer of sand deposited by floodwaters after the Muhuri river embankment broke," said Solaiman Ali, 55, of Aloka village in the upazila.

According to Water Development Board in Feni, three kilometres of total 122km embankments on Muhuri, Kohua, and Silonia rivers in Fulgazi and Parshuram upazilas got damaged in 95 places, which resulted in the flood.

Farmers and officials opined that it will not be possible to cultivate paddy on the affected lands for three to five years.

"We used to cultivate Boro, Aus and Aman paddy on these lands, which are all now buried under sand. We are worried how we will make a living if we cannot cultivate the lands due to sand," said Nazmul Hossain, 50, a farmer of Niz Kalikapur village in the upazila.

"We do not know how to remove this sand from the crop fields. On the other hand, it is also illegal to sell sand from croplands. So, we urge the administration to help us overcome this problem," he said.

Many farmers called upon the government to introduce ration to help them survive till the lands become cultivable again.

"Around 17,000 farmers have been affected in Parshuram, while crops on total 4,209 hectares of land got destroyed," said Sifat Hasan, upazila agriculture officer.

"Farmers can cultivate different types of vegetables on the lands, and other drought-tolerant crops. Doing so, as well as applying enough organic fertilisers on the sandy topsoil will gradually prepare the lands for paddy cultivation over time."