Assam's Fields Lie Dry, Even in Sawan, Leaving Farmers in Distress

A prolonged and unforgiving dry spell has gripped Assam, pushing thousands of farmers across districts like Baksa, Tamulpur, and Nalbari to the brink of crisis. With rainfall absent during the crucial transplantation season, vast stretches of paddy fields lie parched, cracked, and uncultivated. As irrigation systems fail and crops wither, desperate farmers are left staring at potential crop failure, food insecurity, and mounting financial uncertainty, pleading for immediate government intervention.

Tamulpur is among the worst-hit regions affected by the drought. A prolonged absence of rainfall has left deep cracks in farmlands, rendering hundreds of bighas of cultivable land scorched and unproductive.

In what should have been the peak transplantation season, farmers have been unable to plough their fields or transplant paddy seedlings. The lack of water has not only halted agricultural activities but also dried up already planted crops. In many fields, the seedlings have turned red and brittle under the scorching sun, shrivelling and dying without water.

“By the end of Ahaar month, we should have been done with sowing, but the fields are bone-dry. The soil is cracked, there’s no water, and the paddy we managed to plant has already burned out,” said a farmer from Tamulpur. “We’re watching our hard work perish. What do we do without rain?”

The desperation among farmers is mounting, with many expressing fears about how they will feed their families. With no rain in sight, most are worried they won’t be able to grow rice at all this season.

While political parties remain busy organizing rallies and forming election committees for the upcoming BTC (Bodoland Territorial Council) polls, promising government schemes to woo voters, farmers allege that little is being done to address the ground reality.

“There’s no plan in place to tackle the drought. No irrigation support. Just speeches and slogans,” a farmer lamented.

As the drought deepens and farmlands continue to burn under the summer heat, Tamulpur’s agrarian community stands on the brink of crisis. Farmers are urgently calling on the government to implement emergency irrigation measures and provide relief before the situation turns into a full-blown agricultural disaster.

Continuing the crisis across the region, Lower Assam too has been plunged into an unprecedented situation by a devastating dry spell. In districts like Nalbari, the peak Sali paddy transplantation season has arrived, yet a severe lack of rainfall has left fields cracked and barren, forcing farmers to abandon their agricultural activities.

In what should have been the most productive period of the agricultural cycle, farmers in Nalbari are now grappling with despair. Even at the end of Ahaar month, a time when fields are typically lush green, there isn’t a drop of water in many areas. The absence of rainfall has left deep fissures in the earth, and in place of healthy seedlings, only hardened, red-tinged soil remains.

“We couldn’t plant paddy this year,” said a farmer from Helcha, a major agrarian village on the western edge of Nalbari district. “We sowed in a few patches earlier, but now even those are drying out in the fields.”

Helcha village alone is home to around 850 farming families. Yet, not a single one of them has been able to begin proper cultivation due to the extreme drought. The once green and fertile Sali fields now resemble dry plots prepared for potato or mustard cultivation, crops usually grown in the winter.

While the state government continues to promote its development agenda, farmers in Nalbari allege a complete absence of irrigation support. “We are still entirely dependent on rainfall,” a local farmer said. “There’s no functioning irrigation system to fall back on.”

The situation in Helcha highlights the deeper infrastructural failures. The village once had a government irrigation project meant to support 2,500 bighas of farmland. However, locals say it currently serves only about 10 bighas. Additionally, three solar-powered irrigation systems installed in the village have long since become defunct, leaving the fields at the mercy of the skies.

As the crisis deepens, farmers in Helcha and other parts of Nalbari are now facing not just crop failure but the looming fear of food insecurity and economic ruin. They are urgently calling for government intervention, not just promises, but real, on-ground support.

“The land is cracking, our paddy is dying, and there's no water in sight,” said a visibly distressed farmer. “If this continues, we may not survive the season.”

With the drought showing no signs of relenting, the clock is ticking for thousands of farmers across Lower Assam who are still waiting for the rains that never came.

The prolonged dry spell across Assam has left large parts of the state scorched, with no significant rainfall in sight. Farmers in Baganpara village under the Baganpara revenue circle of Baksa district are reeling under severe agricultural distress as more than 1,000 bighas of farmland lie cracked and dry due to the ongoing drought.

Once fertile fields are now barren stretches of hardened earth, riddled with deep cracks and dust. Local rivers, streams, and irrigation sources have all dried up, leaving the farmers helpless and desperate.

“There's no water left in the fields. Instead of muddy patches, we now see baked, cracked soil. Our crops are failing right before our eyes,” said a distressed farmer from the village. “We’ve been waiting for rain for weeks, but nothing has come. What are we supposed to do?”

The lack of rainfall has not only dried up their fields but also destroyed paddy seedlings, which had just begun to grow. Many farmers now find themselves staring at a season of total crop failure, with no means of irrigation or government assistance reaching them in time.

Although there is a state irrigation department, local farmers claim that its services have failed to reach them. “We have a government irrigation department, but it never reaches us. We appeal to the authorities, please make arrangements for irrigation before everything is lost,” another farmer pleaded.

Also Read: Assam: Mushalpur Farmers Left Helpless as Drought Devastates Paddy Fields