Sunamganj haor flooded as hill torrents breach rural road, threaten crops

Torrential hill water has entered Eranbil (Ikrachai) haor in Sunamganj's Madhyanagar upazila after a nearby rural road collapsed under pressure yesterday (29 April), raising fresh concerns for remaining paddy crops in the area.

According to local sources, the surge of water flowing down from Netrokona's Durgapur area increased the flow of the Monai River, which eventually caused a section of a rural road beside Hamidpur village to break. The breach allowed floodwater to rush into the haor.

Agriculture department officials said the Ikrachai haor has a total of 114 hectares of cultivable land. Of this, farmers have already harvested paddy from about 40 hectares. However, due to the sudden flooding, crops on an estimated 5 to 10 hectares have been submerged.

Farmers and local authorities are now scrambling to save the remaining standing paddy, which has become a major challenge.

Confirming the incident, Madhyanagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sanjoy Ghosh said the broken structure was a rural road, not a Water Development Board embankment.

"The pressure from the hill torrents coming from Durgapur, Netrokona, was so strong that a portion of the road could not withstand it and collapsed," he said.

We are treating the situation with urgency. Although most of the crops have already been harvested, we are still trying to prevent further damage to the remaining paddy with the help of locals, he added.

Farmers in the haor said the timing of the flash flood is critical. With water levels in rivers rising over the past few days, they had already been on alert. After the breach, they are now rushing to harvest and store the remaining ripe paddy.

Local administration and residents are jointly working to repair the damaged section to prevent further inundation.

Authorities said the situation is being closely monitored and emergency measures will be taken if necessary.