Tangail fish farmers suffer Tk 25cr losses for floods

A grim future awaits nearly 5,000 fish farmers of Tangail whose investments were washed away in recent floods in all save one of the district's 12 upazilas.

Most of the farmers had taken loans from banks, non-governmental organisations and moneylenders to get their farms up and running.

Although government authorities make lists every year of those affected for floods, hardly any get to avail financial assistance.  

A farmer sets up a net around his pond in Nagarpur upazila with the faint hope that it would hold his fish back against incoming flood waters. PHOTO: MIRZA SHAKIL

Worried sick over how they would repay loans, Mizanur Rahman of Aloa village and Shahed Bepari of Beradoma village in Tangail sadar upazila described to The Daily Star how they watched nature claim fish worth lakhs of taka right before their eyes.

They had high hopes for the different fish breeds they had, which was also a matter of pride for them. Both confirmed of receiving no government assistance till date.

According to the district fisheries office, fish in some 5,454 water bodies of 4,792 farmers had been washed away.

Giving a break down, they said the fish could be up to 1,276 tonnes in total weight and worth Tk 20.19 crore. This is excluding the loss of some 1.85 crore small fries worth Tk 4.15 crore.

On the other hand, the damage to infrastructure of the fish farms was estimated at Tk 2.59 crore. 

This time fish farmers incurred immense losses for the prolonged and devastating floods caused by the onrush of water from upstream and heavy rains, said Golam Kibria, the district fisheries officer. 

"We have already made assessments of the total loses, prepared the lists of the affected fish cultivators and sent these to the higher authorities," he said. 

"The local flood-affected fish cultivators need urgent financial assistance to recover from the disaster. We shall provide support to the affected farmers after getting allocation from the government," he said.

On why farmers never seem to end up getting any assistance, he said, "We send lists of all affected fish farmers after every flood seeking government support. But problems arise when the funds allocated can cover just a handful of them."