The devastating flood at 15 upazilas under Chattogram district caused damage of Tk 300 crore to the livestock, fisheries, agriculture and infrastructures.
Chattogram District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer (DRRO) Saifullah Majumder told the Daily Sun that they primarily assessed the amount of loss, but it will increase as they are yet to get complete information from the affected upazilas.
Asked about the break-up of the amount of damages, the DRRO said they were updating the information coming from the upazilas and it will take some more time to finalise them.
He informed that information of damages of some 4,000 houses were available till Saturday.
Of the 8.5 lakh marooned people, some 29,560 persons were staying amid the logged water at the upazilas. However, all the people from the shelter centres have returned to residences by this time, said the DRRO.
The situation improved significantly while some areas of Satkania upazila remained out of power supply. The damaged roads were hampering movement of traffic and people in some areas, Saifullah said.
A total of 20 persons were killed in the flood water and one remained missing till Saturday, he added.
Sources in the Livestock department said fishes from half of the water-bodies including ponds under the upazilas and city were washed away in the natural calamity.
There are some 28,000 water-bodies including ponds and enclosures where farmers grow fishes of different species in the city and districts, they said.
According to the available data from the upazilas level, fishes from 13,379 water-bodies were washed away by the flood and hilly onrush.
Department of Fisheries, Chattogram Survey Officer Mahbubur Rahman informed that 4,154 tonnes of different types of fishes and 185.35 lakh pieces of fish fry were swept away by the flood water causing huge losses to the growers.
They estimated a loss of Tk 48 crore in this segment of fisheries. Moreover, fish fries worth Tk 6.6 crore and prawn worth Tk 3.8 crore were also damaged in the flood, he said.
Besides, damages to juvenile shrimps and infrastructures of this sector increased the total loss to around Tk 75 crore, said Mahbubur.
As this is the high season for harvesting fishes and cultivating newly, the disruption will cause huge losses to the marginal growers, observed the survey officer.
Among the 15 upazilas, Fatikchhari and Sitakunda didn’t witness damage while Satkania, Lohagara, Chandanish upazilas and four wards under Chattogram City Corporation were affected much in the logged water, he said.
On the other hand, some 450 farms including 185 dairy and 265 poultry ones were affected in the floodwater.
A total of 480 acres of land used for maintaining the livestock were also affected while 422 tonnes of dairy and poultry feeds of different types were washed away, said sources.
Damages to livestock and other related properties worth around Tk 28 crore were reported till Saturday, said the District Livestock Officer (DLO) Dr Nazrul Islam while talking to the Daily Sun.
“We have sent the information to the concerned ministry for next course of action,” he said adding that the amount of loss may increase as the situation is yet to become normal at some places.
Earlier, sources in the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) informed that a total of 30,810 hectare of croplands, out of total 96,198 hectares, were affected in the flood.
Mentionable, the flash flood triggered by heavy downpour and hilly onrush at 15 upazilas marooned around nine lakh people last week.
Different types of crises including shortage of food and drinking water have been suffering the affected people much.
Source: The Daily SUN.