Several thousand farmers, whose livelihoods depend on Boro cultivation, have plunged into abject poverty over the last couple of years due to accumulation of water hyacinth on about 500 bighas of cropland in Srimangal upazila's Jatarpur and Shahshree areas of Hail Haor.

For survival, many of the farmers and their family members have been relying on meagre income from working as day labourers in Srimangal town or catching fish in the area.

The free-floating aquatic plant started to accumulate on the low-lying cropland, suitable for cultivation of Boro rice, in between the Gofla river and the damaged section of the river's western embankment, said the farmers.     

Heaps of water hyacinth is getting stuck in Shahshree as well as Jatarpur villages while floating towards the breached parts of the embankment behind, said Bimal Das, a farmer from Shahshree village, while talking to this correspondent.

The aggregation of the invasive plant over the past two years has turned the land uncultivable for thousands of local farmers, he also said.

Abdul Gaffar, another farmer from the same area, said the damaged embankment on the river's western bank is one of the reasons why the floating water hyacinth is increasingly being drawn towards their Boro land.

"We've been growing Boro in this part of Hail Haor for generations. This is our only source of income. But over the last couple of years, we couldn't grow any rice here," said farmer Sadek Mia, from Jatarpur village. 

Jatarpur resident Khursed Ahmed said despite contacting the union parishad and upazila parishad offices numerous times during this time, no steps were taken to remedy the situation. "But without being able to grow rice there, my family is going unfed most of the time."

Acknowledging the situation, Mirzapur Union Parishad Member Mohit Paul said the situation aggravated as the damaged western embankment of the Gofla river has been left unrepaired for around three years.

He also said the union parishad has no resources or capacity in conducting the repair work on the levee. But for the sake of the farmers, it needs to be done urgently.  

Srimangal Upazila Agriculture Officer Nilufar Yasmin Monalisa Sweety said after paying a visit to the area, she came to learn that about three thousand farmers are living in misery as they could not grow Boro due to invasion of water hyacinth in the area in the last two years.

Since the farmers are not in the capacity to remove such a huge amount of water hyacinth accumulation from the cropland, she would raise the issue to higher authorities, she added.

Contacted, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Nazrul Islam said he would take necessary steps after making an enquiry over the situation.

Ranendra Shankar Chakraborty, executive engineer of Water Development Board in Moulvibazar, said once they receive a petition from locals, seeking a solution to the problem, they would prepare a project proposal, incorporating both dredging of the Gofla river and repairing its western embankment at the same time.