Floods inflict Tk399cr losses on fisheries, livestock as death toll climbs to 56

Devastating floods sweeping across large parts of Bangladesh have inflicted losses of nearly Tk399 crore on the fisheries and livestock sectors and damaged more than 114,700 hectares of cropland, even as floodwaters began receding in the worst-hit south-eastern districts on Tuesday, though the overall death toll has climbed to 56.

While skies cleared over South Chattogram and Cox's Bazar on Tuesday after ten consecutive days of relentless rain, normal life is yet to resume in low-lying areas still under water, and fresh flood risks loom in the northern region as several rivers continue to flow above danger level.

Crops, fisheries and livestock take a battering

According to the Ministry of Agriculture's latest assessment, 114,723 hectares of standing crops and seedbeds have been swamped by floodwater across 43 districts.  

Sixteen districts have borne the brunt of the damage – Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari, Noakhali, Cumilla, Habiganj, Naogaon, Jashore, Meherpur, Bagerhat, Barguna, Bhola, Barishal, Jhalakathi and Patuakhali – accounting for 107,425 hectares of the total affected farmland and potentially hitting 456,076 farmers.

The floods have arrived at a particularly sensitive point in the cropping calendar. Against a seasonal target of 304,000 hectares for transplanted Aman paddy seedbeds, farmers had so far managed to prepare 135,100 hectares, or 44.44% of the target, before the deluge struck. 

Of that, 10,504 hectares – 3.46% of the seasonal target – have already been damaged. The window for preparing transplanted Aman seedbeds runs from 20 June to 15 August, with late Aman varieties to be sown between 15 July and 30 August, leaving little room to make up lost ground.

Agriculture Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid said Aman seedbeds had suffered the most, with newly germinated seedlings submerged and destroyed in many areas, making fresh seedling supply the government's foremost priority. 

He said officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension at union and block levels were gathering field-level data continuously, and that a control room had been set up at the ministry to monitor the situation, which he was personally tracking.

Emergency seedbeds will be raised on land belonging to the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute and local agriculture offices, with the seedlings distributed to affected farmers once floodwater recedes, the minister said. 

Farmers who had already transplanted Aman rice have lost both their crop and the fertiliser already applied, and will need further support to resume cultivation, he added. 

Sub-assistant agriculture officers at block level hold detailed records of affected farmers and farmland, which will guide the distribution of assistance.

On livestock, Rashid said floodwater had wiped out stocks of straw and grass, triggering a fodder shortage that the government would address by supplying dry cattle feed, straw and bran on an emergency basis. 

Fisheries sector worst hit financially

Separate assessments by the Department of Fisheries and the Department of Livestock Services, reviewed by the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, put combined losses at Tk399.12 crore, with fisheries accounting for the bulk of the damage.

The livestock department's report covers five flood-hit districts – Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari  –  where 156 unions were affected and roughly 157,300 cattle, 4,148 buffaloes, 112,655 goats, 24,795 sheep, 1,191,020 chickens and 24,028 ducks were exposed to flood risk.

Of these, 45 cattle, 123 goats, 40 sheep, 111,098 chickens and 1,521 ducks perished. Sixty-five cattle farms and 63 poultry farms were damaged, along with roughly 118 tonnes of animal feed, putting total livestock losses at Tk30.15 crore.

Fisheries losses were far steeper, estimated at Tk368.97 crore across 602 affected unions. Floodwaters swept away 12,043 metric tonnes of white fish, 1,449.49 metric tonnes of shrimp, 1,857.39 lakh fish fry and 259.39 lakh shrimp post-larvae. 

That translated into losses of Tk217.82 crore from white fish, Tk30.99 crore from shrimp, Tk62.66 crore from fry and Tk10.89 crore from shrimp larvae, with a further Tk1.67 crore in damaged boats, Tk1.23 crore in fishing nets and Tk43.82 crore in infrastructure such as sluice gates, ponds and enclosures.

Chattogram suffered the heaviest fisheries losses of any district, with 320 fish enclosures and 12,251 ponds damaged across 153 unions, amounting to around Tk109.43 crore. Cox's Bazar, where 61 unions were hit, recorded losses of Tk46.22 crore, while Khagrachhari, Rangamati and Bandarban logged losses of Tk22.45 million, Tk31.55 million and Tk21.44 million respectively. 

Death toll rises to 56, situation improving in northeast

The overall flood picture has begun to ease in the north-east, though the deluge has not fully lifted. 

Floodwaters have inundated 59 upazilas, 334 unions and 12 municipalities, and the death toll from floods, hill torrents and landslides has climbed to 56 – the highest, 31, in Cox's Bazar alone, including 18 local residents and 13 Rohingyas. 

Fifteen deaths were recorded in Chattogram, six in Bandarban, three in Rangamati and one in Moulvibazar. 
A further 39 people were injured, most of them, 24, in Cox's Bazar.

Some 329 temporary shelters have been opened across the affected districts, housing 10,854 people so far.

Though floodwater has drained from many homes in Satkania, Lohagara and Banshkhali in Chattogram, and Chakaria, Pekua and Matamuhuri in Cox's Bazar, communication remains cut off in downstream localities. 
Families returning to their houses are finding them coated in thick mud, with food, furniture and belongings destroyed. 

"Most houses and yards are covered with mud left behind by the floodwater. We had to spend hours cleaning before we could move back into our homes," said Morshedul Islam, a resident of Nalua Union in Satkania.

Conditions remain critical in coastal parts of Banshkhali, where several unions were still under water on Tuesday, with residents blaming poor drainage and breached embankments for the slow retreat. 

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said five stations on four rivers – the Teesta at Dalia, the Surma at Chatak, the Kushiyara at Markuli and Fenchuganj, and the Someswari at Kolmakanda – were flowing above danger level on Tuesday, with moderate to moderately heavy rain forecast over the next 72 hours across Bangladesh and neighbouring Indian states. 

Water levels along the Surma-Kushiyara system are expected to keep falling, easing conditions in Sylhet and Sunamganj over the next 24 to 48 hours. In the north, however, the Teesta, Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers are rising, with the Teesta at Kaunia in Rangpur likely to briefly cross danger level, and rivers including the Atrai, Ghagot and Karatoya in Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions expected to keep swelling over the next three days.
Relief operations stepped up

Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu told a press conference after an inter-ministerial meeting that rehabilitation, relief and healthcare for flood victims remained the government's top priority. 
He put the number of affected families at 609,411 across eight districts, including Sylhet, and said the official death toll stood at 54, mostly from landslides.

The government has released Tk1.75 crore in cash and 3,250 tonnes of rice for relief, alongside dry food distribution, while the Prime Minister's Relief Fund has allocated an extra Tk20 lakh to each flood-hit district.

Roads and Highways Department will repair damaged highways while the Local Government Division restores local infrastructure, he said, with the health ministry on alert to prevent waterborne disease outbreaks. Calling the flooding one of the worst to hit Chattogram in recent years, Dulu said he would begin visiting affected districts from Wednesday, starting with Chattogram.

Meanwhile, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi distributed relief in Banshkhali on Tuesday, saying aid must reach every household and no one should go hungry. "The government remains vigilant in dealing with the disaster. 

The prime minister has already given the necessary instructions to tackle the situation," he said, with State Minister Barrister Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin also present.