Unbearable heat, venomous snakes: The long April for farmers
The temperature was nearly 40 degrees Celsius, but the temperature under the sun nearly a month into the longest heatwave in Bangladesh’s recorded history, felt much stronger than what it said on paper
Sohrab Hossain sat beneath the palm trees. In the centre of a vast rice field, the swaying palm trees with the occasional gentle breeze were the only shelter Sohrab and two of his labourers had in the scorching noon.
The temperature was nearly 40 degrees Celsius, but the temperature under the sun nearly a month into the longest heatwave in Bangladesh's recorded history, felt much stronger than what it said on paper.
It is a key rice harvesting period as Boro season peaks, but we found only these three men in the entire field. They were profusely sweating under the palm trees as they prepared to return to the fields again.
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"It is extremely painful to keep working in such heat," Sohrab, a farmer of Lobonkota village in Bhaluka's Habirbari union, told The Business Standard.
"I have been working in fields for nearly 30 years. I have never experienced such heat before. The workers are falling ill. We are somehow surviving by drinking a lot of water, saline etc," he said.
As our conversation progressed under the scorching sun, we asked him if he felt the continuous rise of temperature over the years, and he said, "It is true. I remember that last year everyone said they had never witnessed such heat before. This year is hotter than the last one."
When asked why there were no other farmers on the fields as most rice fields here looked ready for harvest – which means busy days for the farmers – Sohrab said the farmers cannot work during the day due to the sweltering heat. Yesterday, they cut paddy in the night with torch lights.
They, however, could not carry their harvest on their shoulders through the aisle to the chatal, a place where they separate the rice from hays, in fear of snakes.
And soon into our walk by the local canal, we came to understand the existence of deadly venomous snakes in the area. The common krait, also known as the Bengal krait – a highly venomous snake native to Bangladesh, India and Pakistan – was resting just on the side of the walking aisle.
It is common for venomous snakes to come out of their holes in this season due to extreme heat. Just the moment we placed our foot on the side of the aisle where the krait was resting, it jumped out into the paddy field scaring us. We have seen many kraits in photos before, but the first physical encounter proved its black colour with about 40 white crossbars far more beautiful.
That is why these farmers on fields were carrying the rice in the day as they can see the aisles as they walk towards the chatal.
Sumon was one of the labourers, working for Sohrab. He came here from Netrokona.
"This heat is unbearable. I had to suffer from fever, cough and cold this season. I suffer from severe headaches every day," Sumon said.
"All the labourers are falling sick. That is why most do not want to work in rice fields now," he added.
Another labourer Manik said that he did not work in fields for several years. Coming back to the field seemed like a mistake to him as he said the heat was "killing" him.
Labourers were indeed hard to get by, Sohrab said.
"It is tough to get a labourer even at Tk1,000 per day. People do not want to work in the heat. Imagine the cost. Cultivating rice is totally a loss project now," he said.
Siddik Akhanda, a farmer in Kharuali village in Bhaluka-6 union, was cutting paddies with some female members of his family including his daughter and granddaughter.
"Labourers are hard to get by," Siddik said. "The heat is only intensifying. How can you work under the sun like this? I have three katha of land here, and I have much more to harvest. I am worried about how to get the rice home."
In Lobonkota, Parveen Begum, Sohrab's wife, just came to the fields with two jugs of water and cold lemon sharbat.
She offered us sharbat in the heat which we gladly accepted.
"The heat is unbearable and there is no electricity. All the hired labourers are falling sick one by one. Even I have to work in the field as we do not have enough hands," Parveen said.
The farmers do not know what climate change is or how it disrupts their lives. All they ask for is rain even if that means their harvest is a bit impacted.
"If the world would get a bit cooler with rain, our labourers could work at ease. They are only humans," Parveen Begum added.
