Cyclone Remal: Jhalakathi’s agriculture, fisheries suffer losses of over Tk 84.17cr

Crops and fish worth around Tk 84.17 crore were damaged in Jhalakathi district by cyclone Remal that hit Bangladesh on May 26.

Of them, the agricultural sector incurred losses of Tk 70.79 crore while the fisheries sector Tk 13.37 crore.

Hundreds of farmers and fishermen in the district have been badly affected as the cyclone caused water levels to rise by 6 to 7 feet above the normal tide levels, which lasted for 6 to 7 hours, resulting in an excessive damage.

Monirul Islam, deputy director of district Department of Agricultural Extension, said Aush seedbeds, planted Aush paddy, peanuts, sesame, chili, summer vegetables, turmeric, papaya, banana orchards and betel leaf fields were damaged.

Around 1,162 hectares of vegetables, 2,019 hectares of Aush paddy, 406 hectares of seedbeds, 64 hectares of betel leaf farms, 185 hectares of banana orchards and 65 hectares of papaya lands were badly damaged by the storm, he said.

District Fisheries Officer Rabiul Islam said 519.67 metric tonnes of fish and 65 lakh spawns were washed away from 329 fish enclosures in the four upazilas of the district during cyclone Remal.

He also said that spawn worth Tk 1.28 crore was washed away and infrastructures worth Tk 89.50 lakh were destroyed.