Flash floods hit crops in Sunamganj's Shanir Haor

Sunamganj’s Shanir Haor is the latest backswamp to be hit by flash floods caused by heavy rains.

The embankment around the waterbody in the district's Tahirpur Upazila was breached on early Sunday in three locations inundating the Boro crops as the harvesting season nears.

"Locals have been making efforts to keep the dam intact for the last 20 days as heavy rains and flash floods continued," said Upazila Chairman Md Kamruzzaman.

"But water started entering early Sunday after the dam was breached in at least three locations. The Boro crop, which would have been harvested in a few weeks’ time, have gone under water," he told bdnews24.com.

The agriculture department's local office said crops on about 8,300 hectares of land at the Shanir Haor were inundated on Sunday.

"Around half of it is under water now, the damage will be extensive if it continues," said Jahedul Haque, deputy director of Department of Agricultural Extension in Sunamganj.

Flash floods and heavy rains in early April already inundated crops in several haors in Sunamganj, Kishoreganj, Netrokona, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Brahmanbaria districts.

The crisis has been blamed on corrupt officials for neglect of duty in building or restoring embankments to protect backswamps.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has already launched a probe over the matter.

The Water Development Board sought bids for 28 embankments in 116 packages in the last two years for Sunamganj, but executive engineers and contractors plotted together to embezzle Tk 250 million without doing anything for the projects, said ACC officials.

Around 171,115 hectares of fields with Boro crops went under water in Sunamganj, Netrokona and Kishoreganj, said the Haor Advocacy platform citing government figures.