Dhaka, May 8 -- Blackened Waters, Vanishing Vistas

Landscape stolen by rot: Floodwaters have submerged 20,000 hectares, turning vital straw stocks into putrid, black waste. Without dry fodder, the region's 740,000 cattle face starvation.

Haor devaluation: Desperate farmers are flooding markets with cattle they can no longer feed. With rural liquidity dried up, prices have plunged, devaluing the region's top assets.

Drowning of the "Lachi": The communal "Lachi" festivals have vanished. As the stench of decay replaces celebration, a $1.2 billion fodder industry has been washed away in the rain.

The smell arrives before the fields come into view.

Across the flooded Haors of Sunamganj, rotting straw now floats over drowned paddy fields, ...