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🇧🇩 Bangladesh /Disasters & Emergencies

Widespread Flooding in Rangpur Threatens Crops and Warns of Early Flood

From Daily Star · (8m ago) English Critical tone

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Continuous rainfall over the past five days has inundated vast low-lying areas across Rangpur, Bangladesh, including mature Boro paddy and maize fields.
  • Water levels in 26 rivers are rising, with officials warning of potential early floods due to persistent rain and upstream water.
  • Farmers are facing severe disruptions to harvesting, forced to hire labor at higher costs and harvest crops while standing in water, with concerns over crop quality and spoilage.

The Rangpur region of Bangladesh is grappling with severe agricultural distress as five days of continuous, heavy rainfall have led to widespread inundation of crucial farmlands.

I am harvesting with hired labour at double the usual cost. If I wait, the crop will be ruined.

— Nazar AliA farmer from Lalmonirhat's Aditmari upazila, describing the difficult choices he faces due to submerged crops.

Vast low-lying areas, including mature Boro paddy and maize fields across its five districts, are submerged. This relentless downpour has caused water levels in at least 26 rivers, including major ones like the Brahmaputra, Teesta, and Dharla, to rise significantly. While the danger mark has not yet been crossed, officials are issuing stern warnings of a potential early flood, exacerbated by continued rain and water flowing in from upstream.

For the farmers, this is a critical period of harvesting, and the weather has thrown their efforts into disarray. Many are forced to hire laborers at inflated prices to salvage their ripened crops, often working knee-deep in water. The lack of sunshine is preventing them from drying their harvested produce, raising fears of spoilage and significant financial losses. The situation is particularly dire for those cultivating on char lands and recently emerged riverbeds, which are already waterlogged.

Even if I harvest, I cannot dry them due to the rain. I don’t know what to do.

— Abdus SamadA farmer from Kurigram’s Ulipur upazila, expressing despair over his submerged crops and inability to dry them.

As The Daily Star reports, rainfall has averaged around 120 millimeters daily since Saturday, a stark contrast to last year. This unusually intense weather pattern poses growing risks to agriculture in the northern region. From our perspective in Bangladesh, this is not just a weather event; it's a direct threat to food security and the livelihoods of countless farming families. While international reports might focus on the meteorological data, we understand the human cost – farmers like Nazar Ali and Abdus Samad facing ruin, and agricultural laborers like Shah Jamal struggling to find work. The Department of Agricultural Extension's figures on cultivated land underscore the scale of potential losses. This situation demands immediate attention and support for the affected farming communities.

Such acts disrupt biodiversity, increase soil erosion, and weaken the overall ecological stability of the garden.

— Nurul Muhaimin MiltonPresident of a tea workers’ union unit in Moulvibazar, explaining the broader ecological damage.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Daily Star in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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