Flash floods leads to woes for fish farmers in Khulna

Incessant rain in the past three days has led to significant damage for fish farmers in Khulna.
According to the district’s fisheries department, 1,195 ponds and 7,510 fish enclosures (around 60 percent of the total number of fish enclosures) in the district are flooded.
Dumuria upazila was the most affected, as 3,750 of the sunken enclosures are located there. The second most affected is Paikgacha upazila, with its 1,850 enclosures being submerged.
The total damage amounts to Tk 94.6 crore, with white fish farmers suffering losses of around Tk 17.12 crore. However, shrimp farmers are among the most distressed, as around 1.58 crore shrimp ponds were inundated, incurring losses of around Tk 58.7 crore.
“All my enclosures were flooded just days before harvest season… I am devastated,” said Saiful Haque of the district’s Dumuria upazila.
Saiful had built a five-bigha enclosure for white fish while another bigha was used for shrimp cultivation, investing around Tk 7-8 lakhs, reports our local correspondent.
“It will take us at least three months to rebuild the enclosures. Meanwhile, I am stuck with a bank loan of Tk 3 lakh alongside the repair costs, with no means to repay,” he added.
As per the district’s Fisheries Officer Jaydeb Paul, 5,810 metric tonnes of white fish and 7,321 metric tonnes of harvest-ready shrimp have been washed away in the last three days.
“The shrimp farmers are the most affected as it is their harvest season now… We are working to provide incentives to support the affected farmers,” he added.