The recent flood in Mymensingh caused damage to fisheries and agriculture estimated at Tk 324 crore, leaving many fish farmers severely affected, said the officials on Saturday.
The flood in Haluaghat and Dhobaura upazilas of Mymensingh washed away fish worth Tk 55,43,00,000 affecting 6,875 fish farmers, said Mymensingh district fisheries department deputy director Nazim Uddin.
Additionally, aman paddy worth Tk 269 crore was destroyed by the flood, said agriculture officers.
According to the district fisheries department, 6,150 fish farms in Haluaghat upazila were completely submerged, causing 4,020 farmers to lose 1,120 tonnes of fish and 50 tonnes of fish hatchlings.
The loss amounted to Tk 22 crore worth of fish and Tk 75 lakh worth of fish hatchlings.
In Dhobaura upazila, 4,296 fish farms were flooded, causing 2,850 farmers to lose 2,145 tonnes of fish and 12 tonnes of fish hatchlings.
The total loss of fish was estimated at Tk 32,18,00,000 and fish hatchlings at Tk 50 lakh.
Kamrul Mia, a fish farmer in Dhobaura, said that his farm was flooded and fish worth around Tk 20 lakh was washed away.
He said, 鈥業 had taken a loan of Tk 30 lakh from two government banks for fish farming. Now I don鈥檛 know how I will repay the loan.鈥�
Mymensingh district fisheries department deputy director Nazim Uddin said that they were making a list of affected fish farmers visiting the flood-hit areas.
Once the list is completed, it will be sent to higher authorities, said Nazim.
Besides, 13,200 hectares of the aman crop worth Tk 134,74,00,000 were damaged by the floods in Dhobaura.
Dhobaura agriculture officer Golam Sarwar Tushar, said that it would take time for farmers to recover from this loss.
In Haluaghat, 12,800 hectares of paddy were damaged amounting to Tk 13 crore.
Haluaghat agriculture officer Mahbubur Rahman said that efforts would be taken to rehabilitate farmers through government initiatives so that they could recover from the losses.