RAJSHAHI, April 15, 2022 (BSS) - Drought-like situation has been prevailing
in the region including its vast Barind tract for the last couple of days
posing a serious threat to the living and livelihood condition of the people,
particularly the poor and marginalized ones.

Local Meteorological Office recorded a temperature of 41.2 degrees Celsius at
3 pm today saying the temperature has been rising continuously for the last
couple of days.

Since the beginning of this year, only 42 millimeters of rainfall was
recorded so far, said Rezwanul Haque, senior observatory staff of Rajshahi
Meteorological Office.

"We've not seen any significant rainfall in the region since January last
because of the adverse impact of climate change," said Professor Rezaur
Rahman of the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences in Rajshahi
University (RU).

He opined that the prolonged rainless condition has created a detrimental
condition in overall public health in terms of drinking water as well as
ecosystem and biodiversity.

Illustrating his academic and research expertise on the issue, Prof Rahman
said global warming has been escalating gradually due to various reasons
including carbon emission resulting in climate change. There is no way but to
reduce global warming.

Massive afforestation can be the effective means of substantial and
sustainable reduction of carbon emission, he added.

Besides, utmost importance should be given on transforming the existing
irrigation system in the Barind area into surface water-based instead of the
groundwater ones to mitigate the existing water-stressed condition. Promotion
of less-water consuming crops can also be the best way in this regard.

Prof Bidhan Chandra Das of the Department of Zoology in RU mentioned that
adverse impacts of climate change have triggered recurrence of natural
calamities, posing a serious threat to the farming of summer fruits including
mango and litchi and the living conditions of farmers in Rajshahi.

Volume of rainfall has reduced remarkably in the last couple of years which
is detrimental to both summer and winter crops farming.

Currently, immature mangoes are falling off trees across the region due to
prolonged drought frustrating the farmers and traders.

He mentioned that the ongoing climate change has severely affected farming
and the biodiversity creating a real threat to food production. The developed
countries should fulfill their commitment towards climate funding and ensure
transparency in use of this fund.

He said legitimate rights of the farmers and others concerned should be
protected rightly for the sake of encouraging them towards boosting
agricultural productions to meet up its gradually mounting demands.

Prof Bidhan Das said the region's annual rainfall has never exceeded 1,400mm
in seven years till 2018, which is 45 percent less than the national average
of 2,550mm.