S Dilip Roy

Six years ago, Shyamoli Akhter used to be a playful seventh-grader -- who loved studying, playing, and roaming around the village with her head held high.

Zinc-enriched paddy cultivation is expanding day by day across five districts of the Rangpur division thanks to increased demand for the crop given its immunity-boosting properties. 

Rokeya Bewa (56), a flood victim from Hatia union of Kurigram’s Ulipur upazila, waited for the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) rice on Eid day. However, she did not get it and had to borrow half a kilo of rice to cook a meal.

Most of the flood victims in Ulipur upazila of Kurigram are yet to receive their share of the flood rations even though 863 metric tonnes of of Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) rice was allotted for 86,315 poor families on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha.

With water receding, the grim scenario of damages caused by flood is becoming visible in Kurigram and Lalmonirhat. Around 24,000 farmers have been affected in the two districts. Crops worth Tk 134 crore on 16,383 hectares of land were damaged, according to the department of agriculture.

Villagers in Kurigram are putting up a 50-meter bamboo wall to control the flow of water in the Brahmaputra River to save their village Durgam Porar Char from flooding.

Cattle farmers, particularly those from flood-hit areas, are in fear of incurring losses from the sale of sacrificial animals ahead of the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha due to flooding, rising prices of cattle feed and a lower number of customers.

Crops on around 16,383 hectares of land have been damaged due to floods in Lalmonirhat and Kurigram districts. “Aush” paddy, jute, maize, nuts and various vegetables have been damaged in the floodwater.

The flood situation has started improving in Kurigram and Lalmonirhat districts as the water level of major rivers is decreasing. However, this has led to a new issue.

The recent floods in northern Bangladesh are now affecting farmers in five districts of the greater Rangpur region as significant amounts of land in the economically disadvantaged area have gone underwater.

Thousands of flood victims in the northern districts continue to fight for survival with little access to relief materials, and the situation is unlikely to improve today.  

Burimari Land Port in Lalmonirhat lacks banking facility, causing suffering to people especially those who are travelling to neighbouring countries.

Works of 55 government projects on rural development in Kurigram are yet to start even though the implement deadline expired around a year ago.

A good number of farmers in Rangpur have been earning unexpected profits from growing mint, a medicinal crop, on small patches of land.

Some 150 families are in fear of losing their homesteads in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila as part of a flood protection dam across the Teesta collapsed.

Nearly 150 families who are residents of the riverbank area of Teesta in Khuniagachh village of Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, are living in fear of losing homestead and cropland as a flood protection dam, which was renovated by Water Development Board (WDB) just 10 months ago, already collapsed.

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. 

People of  Mogholhat  union in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila have been aggrieved over the authority’s failure to complete the bridge over the Ratnai river for a long time.

Mobarak Ali (67) is a farmer from Char Gobordhan area on the Teesta river bed in Lalmonirhat.

Even though they were demolished by the authorities concerned more than a year ago, two illegal brick kilns have started operating again in Lalmonirhat.