Flash flood hits Kurigram: Trade at Border Haat suspended, aman fields go under water

Swelling of the rivers due to last three days' heavy rain coupled with onrush of water from upstream hills across the border has caused inundation of vast aman fields and marooned thousands of people in Kurigram district.

Trade in the Border Haat on Baliamari-Kalichar border in Rajibpur upazila also got suspended due to the flooding yesterday.

The Border Haat, meant for trading of locally grown agricultural and manufactured finished products mostly from the surrounding villages across the Bangladesh-Indian border, was inaugurated on July 23.

"The Border Haat area has been flooded and the 150-feet bamboo bridge over the Jhinjirum River connecting the haat on India-Bangladesh border has been washed by the river current today [Wednesday], causing closure of the haat," Rajibpur UNO Md Abdul Kader said yesterday.

Around 1,586 hectares of aman field in the district have gone under water due to the heavy rain and water from the upstream during the last three days, said Alok Kumar Sarker, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension in Kurigram.

Huge quantities of jute bundles, kept for rotting in the river, floated with the river current.

In the last 24 hours, 75 mm rain was recorded at Dharla bridge point, 60 millimetre at Kaunia point of the Teesta River, 25 mm at Chilmari point of the Brahmaputra River and 35 millimetre in the Water Development Board campus.

Around five thousand people have been marooned in different lowland areas of the union due to the heavy rain, said Md Mominul Islam, chairman of Berubari union parishad (UP) in Phulbari upazila.

"Bhaisher Kuthi, Rasulpur, Khamer, Raulia, Kumarer Bosh, Sarkerpara and Prothom Alo Char villages have gone under water. Besides, erosion by Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers has turned serious in some areas of the union. Thirty families have taken shelter on the embankment and high land," said Md Abdul Malek, chairman of Ghogadaho UP in Kurigram Sadar upazila.

Roumari Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Sirajul Islam said about four hundred hectares of land with aman plants in 35 villages under the upazila have gone under water and around four thousand people have been marooned.

Source : The Daily Star

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