In Nasirnagar Upazila, hundreds of hectares of ripe boro paddy in haor areas have gone underwater due to three consecutive days of rainfall and upstream flash floods. This sudden natural disaster has triggered widespread distress among farmers, many of whom are watching their crops sink before their eyes in silence.

Visits to several haors in the upazila reveal vast stretches of mature paddy fields submerged in water. Seful Mia, a farmer from Medir Haor, said that continuous rainfall over the past three days has inundated all his land. He added, “I couldn’t harvest the crop over the last two days due to the risk of rain and lightning.”

Another farmer from the same haor, Ain Uddin, said, “I cultivated six bighas (1 Bigha = 33 Decimal) of land but managed to harvest only two due to a shortage of labour. The rest of the paddy is now underwater. My family depends entirely on this crop for survival.”

Farmers allege that poor management of crop protection embankments and inadequate drainage systems have worsened waterlogging in the haor areas. “As a result, even moderate rainfall is enough to submerge paddy fields. Many farmers are now attempting to harvest partially ripe crops from underwater using boats,” farmers explained the situation.

Imran Hossain, agriculture officer of Nasirnagar Upazila, said that boro paddy was cultivated on 17,496 hectares of land in the upazila this year, with about 50 percent already harvested. “But the remaining crops are being damaged due to rainfall. Waterlogging and labour shortages have put farmers in a difficult situation, and efforts are underway to assess the total extent of damage,” he added.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Shahina Nasrin said that farmers have suffered losses as ripe paddy has been submerged due to continuous rainfall and flooding. “We’re monitoring the situation at the field level and exploring ways to provide government assistance to the affected farmers,” she added.