Power cut for 36 hours in various areas of Faridpur, crop damage

 

Power cut for 36 hours in various areas of Faridpur, crop damage

Nazmul Hasan Nirob,Faridpur :

Due to the impact of Cyclone Sitrang, electricity has been cut for 36 hours in various upazilas including Sadar of Faridpur. Cyclone Sitrang caused extensive damage to ripening aman fields in Faridpur.

Around hundreds of trees were uprooted in various upazilas including the district headquarter in the storm. Houses have been destroyed.

Apart from this, traffic on Dhaka-Faridpur-Barisal and Dhaka-Faridpur-Khulna highways was stopped for 9 hours due to falling trees.

Meanwhile, people in various places are suffering due to prolonged power outages due to the storm. Residents of Charbhadrasan, Bhanga and Alfadanga in the district claimed that there was no electricity since Sunday (October 23) morning.

In other parts of the district, power supply was also cut off on Monday (October 24) afternoon and night. However, power supply was restored in some parts of the city after noon on Tuesday (October 25).

It has been reported that due to the impact of Cyclone Sitrang, the Aman paddy in the fields that have started ripening in the district has suffered the most damage. In this season, about 65 thousand hectares of land in nine upazilas of the district have been planted with saplings. Apart from this, onion seeds, chopped onions and winter vegetables have been damaged.

Farmer Imran Bepari (45) of Charbhadrasan said, I sowed seeds and crushed onions in the field. Due to heavy rains caused by Cyclone Sitrang, the crops were drowned. Besides, Aman paddy fields have suffered extensive damage.

Deputy Director of Faridpur District Agricultural Extension Directorate. Ziaul Haque said that the actual amount of damage is not yet known. However, work is underway to assess the extent of damage to affected farmers and crops.

Meanwhile, at least 24-25 places on the Dhaka-Khulna and Dhaka-Barisal highways in the Faridpur section of Dhaka-Khulna and Dhaka-Barisal highways were blocked due to trees falling during Cyclone Sitrang. After 9 hours, traffic resumed from 7 am on Tuesday. Besides, the bus passengers were injured as the billboard collapsed on the side of the highway.

Mashud Mridha, a resident of Charbhadrasan, said that before the start of Sitrang, there has been severe disruption in power supply in Bhanga since Monday morning. The electricity has suddenly been cut off. The people of the upazila have suffered greatly.

In Alfadanga upazila of the district, seven-eight houses were damaged by uprooted trees in Collegepara. However, there were no casualties. There have been reports of destruction of houses in Charbhadrasan due to Cyclone Sitrang. Apart from this, there were reports of downed electricity poles in Alfadanga.

Mozammel Haque, executive engineer of Westzone Power Distribution Company Limited (Ozopadico) Faridpur, said that the power transmission lines were damaged in various places due to the storm. Consumers' power lines were snapped at many places. Bad weather in many places has caused problems with transmitters. Due to these reasons, electricity supply was stopped in some places. However, the situation started to improve after noon.

Faridpur rural electricity general manager Abul Hasan said that after Monday afternoon, about a hundred poles of electricity transmission lines were broken in different parts of the district due to Cyclone Sitrang. Apart from this, electricity supply wires were torn at 144 spots. Due to this, electricity supply is disrupted at various places. However, our staff is working to improve the situation and restore power supply to normal. However, it is not true that the power supply has been stopped continuously since the morning of October 23.

Meanwhile, there was no damage to the dam protecting the Padma river in Faridpur during the cyclone, said Partha Pratim Saha, executive engineer of the Water Development Board (PUBO) Faridpur office.