Tk 18 cr fish damaged in Netrakona flood

The huge damage in the fisheries sector due to flashflood has left some 14000 fishermen of Khaliajury and Mohanganj in Netrakona in deep crisis.

Over 2500 tonnes of fishes, worth around Tk 18 crore, were damaged in the upazilas, said fisheries department sources.

The damage was caused by oxygen deficiency due to rotting of boro plants, it said.

Around 7300 fishermen were affected in Khaliajury while the rest were in Mohanganj, said the sources.

Fisheries department are spreading lime and OXY-A in the contaminated water to purify and increase oxygen supply in the water to save the rest of the fish, said Tanbir Ahammed, upazila fisheries officer. 

"Primarily we made an assessment that some 530 tonnes of fishes, worth around Tk 15, 90, 00000 (15 crore 90 lakh) died in Khaliajury flashflood," Tanbir said, adding that the figure is increasing everyday.

Not only fish but also crabs and snails were found dead in Dingapota haor of Mohanganj, said Dilip Kumar Saha, Mohanganj upazila fisheries officer.

They are also telling the people not to fish now to bring the water to its normal level, he said.

SCANTY RELIEF SUPPLY

Relief distributed in flashflood affected haor areas so far is very scanty, said flood victims.

Government relief of 76 tonnes of rice and Tk 30,000 has been distributed among the flood-hit people so far, said Khaliajury Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammed Tofael Ahmed.

Three OMS centres have been opened at the upazila headquarters since Sunday and every centre has an allotment of one tonne of rice and one tonne of wheat per day, he said.

We have also made proposals for immediate starting of VGF (vulnerable group feeding) and rice meant for poor people at Tk 10 per kg, informed the UNO.

But the far away flood victims cannot avail the relief as they have to spend around Tk 100 to reach upazila headquarters, said Nazim Uddin Sarker, chairman of Krishnapur union, some 10-kilometres from upazila headquarters.

“To feed some 20,000 flood victims in the union, I need some 300 tonnes of rice per month but I received a relief of 10.50 tonnes in last 15 days,” he said.

The flashflood also damaged around 48670 out of 184,320 hectares of land targeted for boro cultivation in eight upazilas of Netrakona, said Bilash Chandra Pal, deputy director of local DAE.