Himu's Window

On April 9, Mukul Soren, a Santal farmer in Rajshahi, drank pesticide in a suicide attempt over not getting irrigation water from the same deep tubewell that allegedly led to the suicide of two farmers, also Santals, last year. All three were fed up with the exploitative system of irrigation water distribution in parts of the Barind region. The Barind region, known as the rice bowl of Bangladesh, faces a great catastrophe with its groundwater levels depleting fast. In this water-stressed region, irrigation tubewells have now become a tool for the people with political clout to exploit farmers. A significant number of these farmers belong to ethnic minority communities and are therefore more vulnerable to exploitation. Last year, Abhinath Mardi, 36, and his cousin Robi Mardi, 27, died by suicide in Godagari of Rajshahi allegedly after the local tubewell operator refused them the irrigation water they were entitled to, according to family members and case documents. Family members of Abh

Due to decades of over-extraction, more than 40 percent of unions in High Barind, an already water-stressed region of Bangladesh, are experiencing severe depletion of groundwater, says a recent study. While climate change is impacting on the aquifer recharge, the study says, the depleting areas, spread across three districts of Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, and Naogaon, are expanding, limiting people’s access to water for both drinking and irrigation. Hired by the Water Resources Planning Organisation (WARPO), the Institute of Water Modeling (IWM) conducted the study titled 'Hydrological investigation and modeling of the state of the surface and groundwater resources in the High Barind region’. Beginning in 2018, the study works completed with WARPO approving the draft final report on June 25, 2023, says Md Rezaul Maksud Jahedi, director general of WARPO. The final report is likely to be published in August, he said. The figure shows the dry season groundwater situation in the High Ba

May 17, 2018 The sweet scent of mango is in the air once again. But, instead of rejoicing, Rajshahi's orchardists are feeling uneasy. And the cause for their concern is the perplexing government attitude towards export of organic mangoes. The organic mango growers in the region had invested earnestly to improve cultivation methods, prodded by an industry crisis several years ago brought about by excessive chemical use on mango crops. They introduced the fruit-bagging method, which drastically cuts down the number of times mangoes are sprayed with pesticides before reaching the market. Bagged mangoes are sprayed with pesticides about three times, in contrast to 62 times under the unethically-grown non-bagging method. Organic mango growers naturally hoped to benefit from increased exports. But the reality has been starkly different. “They have produced a safe, organic crop but the government is failing to notice it. The farmers are dispirited now,” said Md Anwarul Hoque, the convenor