Despair Across the Haor as Paddy Is Cut Under 'Nayanbhaga'
Flood-hit farmers in Netrokona's Khaliajuri watch labourers take their submerged paddy under the haor custom of 'nayanbhaga'.
Flood-hit farmers in Netrokona's Khaliajuri watch labourers take their submerged paddy under the haor custom of 'nayanbhaga'.
Heavy rain, flash floods and breached embankments have submerged paddy on nearly half a lakh hectares in seven haor districts.
The government began buying paddy in Kishoreganj at Tk 36 a kg on 3 May, but farmers whose fields are flooded and grain wet say they cannot meet the warehouse's dryness condition.
In Habiganj's haors, farmers who borrowed to grow boro watch cut paddy rot unsold on the drying yards as rain and rising water swallow more fields.
Disaster management and relief minister Asadul Habib Dulu said the government will give food aid for three months to haor farmers hit by sudden heavy rain and flash floods.
Rain paused in Kishoreganj on 3 May, but with river levels mixed and skies overcast, haor farmers still fear losing more boro paddy.
In an opinion piece, Rajshahi College student Bushra Azmi argues that rising costs, forced sales and middlemen leave paddy farmers with the smallest share of the value they create.
A 60-year-old Austagram farmer who had borrowed about Tk 1.5 lakh to grow boro paddy died after seeing his ripe crop under water.
Submerged paddy is spreading daily across Sunamganj, Kishoreganj and Netrokona, harvested grain is rotting for lack of sun, and the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre warns the haor flooding may worsen.
Rain and upstream runoff have submerged another 2,000 hectares of Boro paddy in Kishoreganj, bringing the total affected land to 9,045 hectares.
Haor residents at a human chain in front of the National Press Club alleged widespread irregularities and corruption in crop protection embankments and called for scientific research.
An embankment on Boala haor in Sunamganj's Madhyanagar broke on 2 May, letting water in over boro paddy; officials and farmers give different figures for the loss.
Each of the more than 11,000 new MBBS students for 2025-26 will plant a tree on 3 May, the day of their orientation, under the "One student, one tree" programme.