Sources said a vast tract of the low-lying chars in Porar Char, Majhialir char, Barua, Ralakata, Bhagbatipur, Parbotipur, Jhunkar Char in Sadar upazila, Narayanpur, Kalar Char, Astaaishir Char in Nageshwari upazila, Saheber Alga, Jahajer Alga, Dui Kjhawa, Aimormari in Ulipur upazila, Roumari upazila, Rajibpur and Chilmari upazilas went under water due to the recent rainfall.

The farmers of the upazilas failed to harvest their boro paddy following the waterlogged situation.

Khoka Mandal, a farmer of Parbotipur Char in Sadar upazila, said “I have brought five bighas of land under boro cultivation but sudden rain damaged my paddy field. I hardly harvested paddy from one bighas of land while the rest in under water.”

Aynal Haque, a farmer of Bhagbatipur in Sadar upazila, said “I failed to harvest half of my cultivation due to the inclement weather. Now I have lost everything.”

Shaha Jamal, former UP member of Jatrapur union in Sadar upazila, said “All the paddy fields in char areas remained under water for the last several days and now the rotting will start. The farmers will count an irreparable loss caused by the rain.”

Ayub Ali, chairman of Jatrapur union, said farmers in char areas failed to harvest their crops and if the water does not recede, as it hasn’t yet, they (farmers) are set to incur a huge loss.

He also demanded the government’s assistance to recoup the losses of the farmers.

The Department of Agriculture Extension DAE) refused to make any official statement on the matter, denying the developments and refusing to provide any information.

Dr Mostafizur Rahman, deputy director of  the DAE’s Kurigram office, said: “The boro paddy which was cultivated late has gone under water. However, work to estimate the loss is underway.”