KURIGRAM REPRESENTATIVE: Boro paddy fields of about 70 acres of farmers’ land in Ulipur of Kurigram have been gutted by the fiery smoke of brick kiln. The incident took place in Nefra village of Gunaigachha union. The sheaf of paddy has glowed and taken on a ripe color. Farmers are roaming in the hope of compensation. According to the locals, this is not the first time such an incident has taken place. The brick kiln has been deserted since the incident.

Last Wednesday (April 20), it was learned that the brick kiln was closed due to various complaints of the locals, then an influential quarter re-opened the kiln by signing an agreement with the real owner. At present the owners of the other side of the river are Lanju and Rubel. One week ago, the owner of a brick kiln suddenly instructed the workers to extinguish the fire in the chimney unplanned. When the workers tried to extinguish the fire by throwing water and air in the chimney as per their previous decision, the fire in the chimney mixed with the wind and started burning on the paddy field of the farmer. In this way, the boro paddy field of about 60 acres of land is burning in that hot wind. The smell of burning sheaves of paddy is wafting through the scorched fields. Some locals, who did not want to be named, said that the brick kiln did not have a license and had been closed for a long time. Kant Barman, the owner of the burnt paddy field, said that there was a paddy field even during the day. I woke up and saw that the paddy field was burnt. He further said, “I have planted 42 percent paddy with installment money and loan debt. I have suffered a great loss.” The same was said by farmers Abdul Majid, Tajul, Fani, Nurjamal and farmer Nurjahan. He tried to talk to Abu Kalam Mandal, the real owner of AKM Bricks, on his mobile phone more than once but could not find him. Talking to Lanju, the contract owner of Bhata, he said, “I don’t want to say anything about it. I have another partner to talk to.” Talking to Rubel, Lanju’s partner, he said that he was talking to the affected farmers and would soon compensate them.

Upazila Agriculture Officer Saiful Islam said, “If no one finds out about the matter till now, I will take the necessary steps in the interest of the farmers.”