How long Md Alauddin will retain his identity as a farmer is uncertain. In 2023, he harvested about 25 maunds of paddy from his own 31 decimals of land. Last year, the yield fell to 18 maunds. This year, he could not cultivate at all.

Alauddin is from who is from Dautia village in Dhamrai upazila of Dhaka. He said in early September that water was not draining from his land. Growing paddy was out of the question; because of the stagnant polluted water, it was impossible even to step into the field. In November, the field was still found covered in dark water, with water hyacinth floating on it. Yet the land is on slightly higher ground.

Alauddin also used to work on other people’s land. Now he cannot find such work. He took a job at a garment factory; the factory has since shut down. He said, “I see darkness before my eyes. How am I going to run my family?”

Nearby, in Savar upazila’s Koltashuti mouza, this reporter met Zakir Hossain on 22 September. He had sown paddy on 28 decimals of land this season. He managed to harvest crops only from three decimals. Zakir said, “On the rest of the land, the paddy plants fell into rotten mud due to floods of factory wastewater. Even if paddy grows, most of it remains empty grains.”

Not far from the fields of Alauddin and Zakir, small and large industrial factories are being built on raised foundations. Their liquid waste is accumulating in the low-lying agricultural lands. The soil has turned into poisonous sludge. The odor of industrial waste is pungent. Many plots have turned into marshes. Small farmers are suffering the most.