Joy of Durga Puja elusive

Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Bangalee Hindus, is knocking at the door but people belonging to the community in the haor areas of Sunamganj are far from being in a festive mood, as this year's recurrent floods wreaked havoc on their livelihood.

“We the haor people celebrate Durga Puja with much zeal and fervour every year. But this year the situation is different as we are struggling for survival. I had planted Boro this year, taking loan from a local lender. But the flood ruined everything,” said Subash Biswas, a farmer of Brojonathpur under Khorchar Haor of Bishwamvarpur upazila of Sunamganj.

Jamuna Das, 45, wife of a farmer hailing from Kurbanpur under Doarabazar upazila, came to Bodipur area for relatively cheaper OMS rice.

“After losing Boro, my husband cultivated Aman crops on one acre. But it was also washed away by the flood in mid-August. We are now empty-handed ahead of Durga Puja. Our three kids are crying for new dresses while I am standing in the line for OMS rice,” she said.   

Similar stories are now common across the haor areas, where most of the farmers were left in despair after the floods destroyed their Boro crops, fish and livestock in a region where people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.

The Hindu community people in the haor areas of the district are far from being in a festive mood, although their biggest festival Durga Puja starts on Tuesday, said Nurul Huda, chairman of Sunamganj district council.

Amid sufferings due to loss of crops in floods, arrangement of special delicacies and buying new clothes to celebrate Durga Puja seems an unaffordable luxury for the affected families, he added.

Kamruzzaman Kamrul, chairman of Tahirpur Upazila Parishad in Sunamganj, said, “Many people in the haor areas lost everything in floods. I have written to the authorities concerned to take proper steps for providing all sorts of aid to these farmers. But the government assistance we have received so far is not enough.”

Bindu Talukder, member-secretary of Haor Bachao, Sunamganj Bachao Andolon, said, “Half of the flood victims in the haor areas have not got any relief yet. The government should provide sufficient aid to save these farmers.”

“We observed different programmes and submitted memorandum to the prime minister through Sunamganj deputy commissioner, demanding declaration of the district as a 'distressed area' and providing free rationing to save the affected people, especially in haor areas,” he said.

According to the district administration, Boro paddy was cultivated on 154 haors comprising two lakh 23 thousand and 8 hectares of land in Sunamganj district. But the crop on one lakh 66 thousand and 612 hectares of land was damaged due to heavy rain and hailstorm in April, affecting 3,25,990 farmers in the district.