Cyclone Midhili: Dried fish worth Tk1 crore damaged due to rain

Dried fish worth Tk1 crore, kept under the open sky for drying, at Dublar Char in the Sundarbans were damaged due to the incessant rain triggered by the cyclonic storm 'Midhili'.

Kamal Uddin Ahmed, chairman of Dubla Fishermen's Group, said 60,000 quintals (1 quintal = 100 kg) of fish have been damaged.

Harun-or-Rashid, officer of Bagerhat-Mongla Weather Observatory Centre, said the Met office recorded 91 mm of rainfall in 24 hours, from 6 pm Thursday till 6 pm Friday, in Bagerhat.

A total of 10,000 fishermen from the coastal areas gathered at Dublar Char, popularly known as "Shutki Polli" or Dried Fish Village, as the dried fish processing season kicked off on November 3.

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Every year, several thousand fishermen and hired hands flock to the area to catch fish and make shutki (dried fish) in Shelar Char, Narikelbaria, Majherkella and Alorkol of Sharankhola range of the East zone of Sundarbans.

The dried fish processing will continue till March, next year.

Dublar Char experienced intermittent rainfall for the past couple of days due to the depression in the Bay of Bengal.

Frustration gripped the fishermen at Dublar Char as fish worth Tk one crore were damaged due to the rain.

Khalilur Rahman, in charge of Dublar Char forest camp, said the authorities concerned informed the fishermen about the inclement weather through loudspeaker.

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The stench of rotten fish is prevailing in the area, affecting the environment and health of the fishermen and others living on the char, he said.

"It is difficult for the fishermen to stay in the strong stench. It would be better to dump the fish damaged due to the rain," said Kamal Uddin, chairman of Dubla Fishermen's Group.

Muhammad Nurul Karim, Divisional Forest Officer of Sundarbans East Zone, said the extent of the losses caused by the rain could not be ascertained yet.

The periphery of the cyclonic storm Midhili crossed the Mongla-Payra coast near Khepupara as of Friday noon, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD).

Cyclone Midhili completed crossing the coast by the evening, it said.