Editorial
The off-season downpours
Measures should be afoot to save hard-hit peasantry
What appeared to be a welcome relief from sweltering heat over the last week turned problematic for the city dwellers as the rain fell alternatively in drizzles and downpours clogging city streets. But for the people of the coastal districts, it proved to be a bane rather than a blessing as the low in the Bay behind the rain caused tidal surges that inundated some 52 villages in Cox's Bazar. In Patuakhali, on the other hand, the tidal surges damaged flood protection dam washing away Aman crops in the field and fishes in the hatcheries causing huge loss to fish stock and the crops. The experience has quite upset the traditional pattern of agricultural farming which depends to a large measure on the knowledge of the farmers about the seasonal cycles. But the recent changes in that seasonal pattern, a phenomenon called 'climate change', has caught our peasants off-guard. They can no more plan their cultivation and cropping strategy ahead of the appropriate times for the different stages of the cropping seasons. Worse still, their age-old knowledge of preparedness against the vagaries of nature such as drought, downpour, floods and the seasonal storms and tornadoes -- which, too, they could predict from the movement of the winds and the clouds -- has lost its usefulness and efficacy in the face of the recent global shift in the climatic pattern. But agriculture is still the mainstay of the livelihood of 60 per cent of the population. This population, the vast majority of whom are farmers, also feed the entire nation. So, it is the turn of the nation, especially its leaders and policymakers, to provide the farmers with the scientific know-how to cope with the challenge posed by 'climate change'. The government and all other stakeholders will have to work in concert to provide the farmers with the technical know-how and resources to adapt themselves gradually to the climate change. The experiences of the successive years call for urgent steps on the part of the government to undertake such a process forthwith. Otherwise natural calamities like Aila, Nargis along with sudden floods and torrential rains will continue to deal blows to the farming community. The incessant rain over the last few days should be a wake-up call for the government to swing into action. The non-stop rain that has upset the city life will be over within a day or two as forecast by the meteorological department. But that should not make us complacent and forgetful of the bigger picture of climate change and our compulsions to face it right now.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
Related News
An alarming report on children’s exposure to climate risks
11 hour(s) ago
Editorial
Why is safe water inaccessible for millions despite rising spending?
19 June 2026, 08:00 AM
Editorial
BB must confront bad loans’ true scale
18 June 2026, 18:38 PM
Editorial
Dolphin deaths must be investigated
18 June 2026, 08:00 AM
Editorial
Weak policing fuelling rise in crimes
17 June 2026, 18:18 PM
Editorial
Comments