Kishoreganj: President Abdul Hamid on Sunday urged people living in the haor region to cultivate alternative crops alongside boro paddy and use fallow land properly all year round to minimise their dependence on a single crop, reports UNB.“Choose an alternative crop and use abandoned land for farming variety of crops like potato, jute and vegetables,” he said while addressing a view-exchange meeting with flashflood victims and local representatives at Abdul Hamid auditorium at Mithamoin on Sunday evening.
Stressing the need for declaring the haor region an exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the President said a special cell on the haor development plan can be set up to take pragmatic steps to cope with adverse climate events like flashfloods in the haor region.
“No tangible and sustainable development of a country or region is possible without combined effort...that is why we have to come forward and face the negative impact of the flashflood together,” he added.
Voicing grave concern over the untold sufferings to haor dwellers of Kishoreganj, Netrakona and Sunamganj, who have been the victims of the floods caused by erratic rainfall in Indian hilly areas, the President said he has already talked to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about the adverse effect on the haor region.
“She (the Prime Minister) assured me of providing necessary assistances to the affected haor-dwellers,” he said.
The haor (low-lying wetland) region is facing a serious setback due to flashfloods since March 30, that have submerged about 32 percent of paddy fields just before the harvesting period starts.
According to the district administration, as many as 99,368 farmers of Kishoreganj have become the worst victims of the flashfloods with an estimated loss of Tk 549.48 crore to boro farmers.
Terming this year’s early flashfloods an unprecedented disaster, President Hamid said: “We are being deprived naturally...we have to proceed by taking a realistic approach to overcome the situation collectively.” He assured the flashflood victims of taking necessary measures help them overcome the worst, following consultations with the authorities concerned.
State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan and local MP Rezwan Ahmed Toufiq also spoke at the meeting.