Further uncertainty over Rooppur plant launch

Continuous rainfall over the last three days has caused widespread flooding in new areas of Khulna, submerging fish enclosures and damaging vast tracts of Aman paddy fields and vegetable crops.

Around 60 percent of the fish enclosures in the district have been affected, with many completely submerged.

Amirul Azad, senior meteorologist at the Khulna Met office, told that the total rainfall in the last 24 hours was 154 millimeters, adding that "It's likely to rain throughout the day today."

In the past three days, Khulna received a total of 327 millimeters of rain, he added.

Prasad Roy, a farmer from Khulshi Bunia in Batiaghata upazila, shared the devastation his family is facing. "Almost all of our family's 19 bighas of Aman paddy field have gone underwater.

He expressed deep concern about the fish enclosures, saying, "The biggest danger is the fish enclosures. If the water is high, lobsters cannot be trapped. Many have already been swept away."

Md Insad Ibne Amin, agriculture officer of Dumuria upazila, said that Dumuria is a significant hub for vegetable production, with an annual turnover of approximately Tk 350 crore from vegetable sales.

The early winter vegetable farmers have suffered massive losses due to the rain. Amin also mentioned that off-season watermelon farming, a significant crop in the upazila, has been heavily impacted, with cultivation on around 305 hectares of land damaged, affecting 22,000 farmers.

Alamin Sheikh, a farmer from Gutudia village, echoed the concerns of many, saying, "My paddy fields have been submerged. There is no sign of the water receding, and if the paddy plant remains underwater for two or three days, it cannot be saved."

According to Kazi Jahangir Hossain, deputy director of Khulna's Department of Agricultural Extension, 85,600 hectares of Aman paddy have been damaged in varying degrees by the relentless rain, along with 2,325 hectares of early winter vegetables, out of a total of 5,600 hectares.

Joydeb Pal, Khulna district fisheries officer, said that more than 60 percent of fish enclosures in nine upazilas of Khulna have been washed away, with shrimp farmers particularly hard-hit.

"Fish farmers will face huge losses as the enclosures have been washed away just before the harvesting period," he added.

Several coastal upazilas, including Shyamnagar, Kaliganj, and Assasuni, are also inundated, with water flowing over main roads and submerging low-lying areas and fish enclosures. In Shyamnagar upazila, fish enclosures and ponds in Gabura, Burigoalini, Kashimari, Koikhali, and Ramzannagar unions have been washed away by the floodwaters.