‘Never seen such devastating floods in my 75 years’

Despite living on a char in a remote village in Cumilla, Abu Bakar Siddique had never needed to seek refuge at a shelter due to flooding.

However, the recent devastating floods were an exception.

The floods destroyed his ripe paddy fields, severely damaged his 30-year-old home in Char Duppa, Kinara village, and forced him and his family to seek refuge at a shelter centre.
 
"I never thought I would have to suffer like this in my old age. In my 75 years of life, I never had to stay in a shelter centre or receive relief," said Abu Bakar from Mannara Primary School in Cumilla's Nangalkot upazila, which has been used as a shelter for flood victims.
 
He also mentioned that while there were floods in 2017, they were not as severe as this year's. "I have been staying at this school for the past four days. The water has been receding since Wednesday, but very slowly."
 
Cumilla is one of the hardest-hit districts in the recent floods, with millions of people affected.
 
Around 200 people have sought shelter in the two multi-storied buildings of Mannara Alhaj Salamat Ullah High School and Mannara Government Primary School. They come from various villages in the area, with four to five families occupying each classroom.
 

Mannara Primary School shelter centre in Cumilla’s Nangalkot upazila. Photo: TBS

Sixty-year-old Aleya Begum said she brought two cows and three ducks with her when she arrived, but it has been challenging to keep them here. However, she said she has received relief items along with the other people staying at the shelter centre.
 
"Being together has helped us access relief and food. While students have provided some relief items, we have not yet received anything from the government," she said.
 
Farmer Abu Musa said the floods have destroyed the crops on his three bighas of land.
 
"I am grateful to be alive with my two children, but now I have to start over from scratch, and I don't know how. I have never faced such a situation before," she said.

Fish farmers face huge losses
 
Md Ahamadullah from the Mokrobpur union of the upazila had seven fish enclosures.
 
He told The Business Standard that around Tk1 crore worth of rui and carp fishes were stocked in the ponds. Despite efforts to prevent flood damage, the water levels rose well beyond the danger threshold.
 
As a result, he expects to incur huge losses of at least Tk40 to Tk50 crore.
 
In the same area, Helal Uddin and Fakhrul Islam were jointly managing fish farming in 12 enclosures across 10 acres of land.
 
They reported that due to the sudden water surge on 22-23 August, they struggled to take effective measures to protect their enclosures. The excessively high water levels led to the destruction of their fish enclosures, they say.
 
Hundreds of fish farmers in the upazila, including Wahab Mia and Nurul Hasan, have also been affected.
 
Wahab Mia said, "We urge the government to assess our losses and develop a recovery plan, as many of us are in debt. I have lost around Tk1 crore and have a loan of Tk80 lakh."
 
Md Mustafizur Rahaman, Area Manager (Aquatic) at New Hope Feed Mill Bangladesh, said, "I have been working with fish farming in Cumilla and Feni for eight years. I have never seen such severe flood damage to the industry."
 
He said in Nangalkot alone, there are about 3,000 fish enclosures, and at least Tk3,000 crore worth of fish have been washed away.
 
"Consequently, the demand for our feed has dropped by 70% since last week. It will take years for fish farmers to recover from this loss," he added.