STAR REPORT

For the first time in nearly a week, the sun broke through over the haor, prompting farmers to rush to their fields.

By dawn on Thursday, thousands of farmers of the seven Haor districts and their families went to the field to harvest, haul, thresh and dry Boro paddy.

Roadsides of the 19,000 square kilometres of Haor areas became drying floors, courtyards were buried under freshly cut sheaves, and even children skipped school to help carry grain with their family.

“I felt some relief today as the sun came out,” said Rashid Mia, a farmer from Bhuksimuil village in Hakaluki haor in Moulvibazar.

Rashid managed to retrieve the paddy that had sunk into the water but could not dry it due to the rain.

But the sliver of light brought him hope.

Joy Sarkar, a college student from Khaliajuri upazila, was seen harvesting submerged paddy alongside his farmer father.

“Today is somewhat better with a bit of sunshine,” he said, adding that they hired three labourers at Tk 1,200 per day to harvest four acres of land that went underwater.

Similarly, Shiblal Das, a farmer from Badalpur in Habiganj’s Ajmiriganj, who cultivated 13 bighas of leased land by spending over Tk 1.5 lakh, has hired labourers to salvage whatever remains underwater.

In Kishoreganj’s Majlishpur Khola, one of the largest drying fields next to the Nikli-Karimganj road, the “Now

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