Heavy and continuous rainfall combined with upstream hill torrents has severely disrupted life in Habiganj’s haor region. Over the past few days, vast areas have gone underwater, destroying the district’s only boro crop. On Wednesday, April 29, water from the Khoai River entered the haor after an embankment broke at Dattagaon in Sujatpur under Baniachong upazila, flooding hundreds of acres of farmland within moments.

According to the district agriculture officer, around 5,000 hectares of paddy fields are now submerged, with about 30 percent of the crop still unharvested. If the weather does not improve within 24 hours, the remaining paddy may also be lost. The Water Development Board reported 110 millimeters of rainfall in the last 24 hours and said vulnerable embankments are being monitored.

Farmers in Baniachong, Ajmiriganj, and Lakhai upazilas are harvesting paddy in waist- to chest-deep water using small boats. Many are suffering from skin diseases due to prolonged exposure to water, and they complain that the agricultural warning came too late to prepare.