With elections nearing, delays and doubts over embankment construction in Bangladesh’s haor region heighten fears of early floods threatening the boro rice harvest and millions of farming livelihoods this season.
As national elections approach in February, uncertainty is growing over whether critical flood protection embankments in Bangladesh’s northeastern haor region will be completed on time, putting the country’s vital boro rice crop at risk.
Deputy Commissioner of Sunamganj Mohammad Elias Mia said the election would not disrupt the work. “Both election duties and embankment construction are receiving equal priority,” he said.
Construction and repair work has begun on embankments in 95 haors across Sunamganj district at BDT 1.03 billion, approximately USD 9.4 million. According to official guidelines, all work must be completed by February 28 to safeguard standing crops from early flash floods. Farmers, however, fear that delays and weak oversight common in previous years could once again leave them exposed.
Sunamganj spans approximately 3,747 square kilometres, with nearly one-third of its population directly dependent on haor-based agriculture. The district produces rice worth over BDT 40 billion annually, making it one of Bangladesh’s most important food-producing regions. This productivity remains highly vulnerable to sudden upstream floods caused by heavy rainfall in India’s Meghalaya hills, a risk that experts say is intensifying due to climate variability.
The anxiety is rooted in experience. In 2017, flash floods breached embankments in 137 haors, submerging ripened paddy just weeks before harvest. The disaster devastated livelihoods, triggered nationwide outrage and caused a sharp economic shock across the district.
In response, the government scrapped the contractor-driven model for embankment construction and introduced a community-led system. Under this framework, embankments are built and maintained by local farmers through Project Implementation Committees, overseen jointly by the district administration and the Bangladesh Water Development Board.
Despite the reform, doubts over quality and timely completion persist.
“I spent around BDT 40,000 on boro cultivation this year,” said Kedu Mia, a farmer from Kalnar Haor. “Every year, embankment work is delayed or poorly done. With elections in February, we fear attention will be diverted.”
Such concerns are widespread among the district’s estimated 1.3 million farmers. Official data show that over the past five years, repeated embankment failures during early floods have resulted in the destruction of rice worth more than BDT 6 billion in Sunamganj alone.
Farmers say election periods often heighten uncertainty as administrative focus shifts and field-level monitoring weakens during politically sensitive times.
“By this point in other years, embankment work would be clearly visible,” said Sultan Mia, another haor farmer. “This year, progress is slow and that worries us.”
According to the Bangladesh Water Development Board, work on 590 kilometres of embankments began on December 15 and is being implemented through 510 Project Implementation Committees across Sunamganj’s 12 sub-districts. However, officials acknowledge that high water levels have delayed full-scale work in several haors.
“Some areas are still waterlogged, which has slowed progress,” said Mamun Hawladar, Executive Engineer of the Sunamganj Water Development Board. “Once water levels recede, implementation will accelerate. Any irregularities will be addressed under the law.”
For haor communities, the margin for error is narrow. With the harvest season approaching, the effectiveness of these embankments will once again determine whether farmers secure their livelihoods or face devastating losses from early floods.
