Dhaka, May 2 -- Every year, in districts with Haor wetlands, the dams and embankments are breached by upstream flow, submerging the only crop of the year - Boro paddy. This year, there haven't been widespread reports of dams collapsing, but farmers are still blaming the structures for their crop losses.

The Water Development Board (WDB), the agency responsible for the dams, agrees with the criticism. An official of this government agency said that one of the reasons for waterlogging in the Haor is "unplanned development".

Farmers and Haor Movement leaders say that over the last decade, dams have been constructed recklessly in the wetlands in the name of crop protection, but largely motivated by politics and nepotism. Due to these dams, ...