Unseasonal floods owing to the swelling of the water level in the Teesta river mean many farmers who cultivated boro paddy on its shoals in the dry season were able to collect a small portion of the crop as waters submerged their land, dealing a blow to their livelihood. These two char farmers in Char Rajour of Lalmonirhat sadar upazila harvested damaged paddy in order to use them as fodder for their cattle. The photo was taken recently.

S DILIP ROY

Dhiren Chandra Barman, a 60-year-old farmer in Char Rajour in Lalmonirhat sadar upazila, nowadays passes sleepless nights after his paddy crop, on which he relies to feed his six-member family, was completely damaged because of an unseasonal flood.

“How will I repay loans? I see no other alternative other than death to move out of this crisis,” he said recently, with teary eyes.

Barman had cultivated boro paddy on six bighas of land on the bed of the river Teesta with a loan of Tk 50,000 from a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and local moneylenders.

Due to untimely floods, caused by the higher flow of waters to the river from the upstream and incessant rains, the entire paddy field went underwater, damaging the crops.

He managed to receive only 30 kilogrammes of paddy against 97 maunds he harvested from the same field last year.

“Boro paddy grown on the bed of the Teesta is the main source of our livelihood throughout the year,” he said.

He usually sells the produce to repay loans and meet family expenses. But this year’s ill-timed floods have shattered all his hopes.

“I will not be able to repay the loan this year. I will not be able to run the family. I have become helpless,” he told The Daily Star.

The sexagenarian is not alone.

Mokhles Mia, another farmer in the same locality, had grown boro paddy on seven bighas of land after borrowing Tk 60,000 from NGOs and local lenders.

He also had thought that he would pay back the loans after harvesting the paddy but the crop too had got damaged.

In 2021, he received 115 maunds of paddy from the land whereas it was only 25 kgs this time.

“My eight-member family depends on the boro paddy all year round. Only the Almighty knows how the family will survive this year,” said the 62-year-old.

He is under pressure to repay the loans but he is hopeless. “Maybe, we should run away from home to get rid of the loan burden,” Mokhles said.

During a visit to the area, Sekandar Ali, a 67-year-old farmer in the Char Bogurapara area under the Rajarhat upazila in Kurigram, was found weeping.

He had cultivated paddy on 10 bighas and he too had lost the crop to the floods. He had got 156 maunds of paddy from the land last year.

He had borrowed Tk 1 lakh from NGOs and local moneylenders in the hope that he would repay the loans by selling the produce but his hopes have been dashed.

“We have never seen floods in the month of Chaitra. This year’s unseasonal floods have ruined our livelihood.”

Fifty-eight-old farmer Javed Ali, hailing from the same char area, also went through the same predicament.

“We have lost our crops due to the floods. If we don’t get assistance from the government, we will face difficult days.”

Ali has sought interest-free loans from the government so that they can move out of the current situation and survive.

He says most farmers in the char areas grow crops by borrowing either from NGOs or individual lenders. They make the repayment after harvesting the crops.

Meser Ali, a farmer from Char Gorbordhan in Lalmonirhat’s Aditmari upazila, echoed Javed Ali.

“If we don’t get government assistance or interest-free loan facility, we would not be able to survive,” said the 70-year-old.

There are 95 chars on the Teesta river bed in Lalmonirhat and Kurigram districts.

Char farmers make a living by producing various crops, including paddy in the river bed during the dry season. Growing paddy is their main source of income. But the floods have hit their livelihood hard.

According to sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), during the dry season, more than 50,000 char farmers cultivate various crops, including maize, paddy, wheat, and spices on 75,000-80,000 hectares of land along the 115-kilometre-long Teesta river bed, spread over 12 upazilas in five districts: Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Rangpur, Nilphamari, and Gaibandha.

Boro paddy and different vegetables have been damaged due to the untimely floods, said Shamim Ashraf, deputy director of the DAE in Lalmonirhat.

A good number of families of the farmers in the char areas depend on the crops grown on the river bed during the dry period, he said.