‘I fear people will go to war over water’: as wells run dry, farmers struggle to survive in Bangladesh
<p>The arid Barind region was transformed by aquifer wells but now the water system is collapsing under the pressure of the climate crisis and decades of extraction</p><p>In the parched fields of north-west Bangladesh, where the earth hardens into cracked red clay beneath an unforgiving sun, farmers in the Barind region say they are watching the foundations of rural life disappear underground.</p><p>For decades, groundwater <a href="https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/888071579802640956">transformed Barind</a> – one of Bangladesh’s driest regions – into a productive agricultural belt. <a href="https://www.ctc-n.org/technologies/boreholes-and-tubewells">Deep tube wells</a> allowed farmers to grow rice, wheat, maize and vegetables year-round across land once defined by drought.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/09/i-fear-people-will-go-to-war-over-water-as-wells-run-dry-farmers-struggle-to-survive-in-bangladesh">Continue reading...</a>
- alleges — ‘I fear people will go to war over water’: as wells run dry, farmers struggle to survive in Bangladesh (witness: wire-ingest; citation: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/09/i-fear-people-will-go-to-war-over-water-as-wells-run-dry-farmers-struggle-to-survive-in-bangladesh; status: supported)
- alleges — url: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/09/i-fear-people-will-go-to-war-over-water-as-wells-run-dry-farmers-struggle-to-survive-in-bangladesh (witness: wire-ingest; citation: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/09/i-fear-people-will-go-to-war-over-water-as-wells-run-dry-farmers-struggle-to-survive-in-bangladesh; status: supported)
- alleges — summary: <p>The arid Barind region was transformed by aquifer wells but now the water system is collapsing under the pressure of the climate crisis and decades of extraction</p><p>In the parched fields of north-west Bangladesh, where the earth hardens into cracked red clay beneath an unforgiving sun, farmers in the Barind region say they are watching the foundations of rural life disappear underground.</p><p>For decades, groundwater <a href="https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/888071579802640956">transformed Barind</a> – one of Bangladesh’s driest regions – into a productive agricultural belt. <a href="https://www.ctc-n.org/technologies/boreholes-and-tubewells">Deep tube wells</a> allowed farmers to grow rice, wheat, maize and vegetables year-round across land once defined by drought.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/09/i-fear-people-will-go-to-war-over-water-as-wells-run-dry-farmers-struggle-to-survive-in-bangladesh">Continue reading...</a> (witness: wire-ingest; citation: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/09/i-fear-people-will-go-to-war-over-water-as-wells-run-dry-farmers-struggle-to-survive-in-bangladesh; status: supported)
- alleges — published: Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:00:51 GMT (witness: wire-ingest; citation: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/09/i-fear-people-will-go-to-war-over-water-as-wells-run-dry-farmers-struggle-to-survive-in-bangladesh; status: supported)