Flood took away the paddy crop on fields and damaged another about 400 maunds kept in the house for use as food and seed.

He has barely fifteen days to transplant Aman seedlings. But seed and seedlings are scarce in the district, where 60 out of 69 unions were under water for over two months.

Like many others, Abdullah is moving heaven and earth for seed or seedlings. But neither is available. Even the government-assured seed for marginal farmers is yet to teach them.

The condition in almost the whole of Moulvibazar district is precarious as it was ravaged by flood twice this year.

The district is considered as a rice bowl. Rice produced in its vast fertile haor lands are supplied to other districts. The average yield per acre is also higher than in other areas.

Early floods this year damaged IRRI-Boro crops in low-lying areas and the recent deluge inundated 1191 square kilometre area, damaging Aus paddy on 63892 acres and affecting about nine lakh 71 thousand people.

The floodwater is yet to recede from low lying haor areas including Kawadighi Haor, Hail Haor and Hakaluki haor. Many people of these villages are yet to return home from flood shelters, not to speak of starting Aman sowing. Some areas are still under five to six feet water. There is no hope of Aman cultivation there this year.

This correspondent visited villages in Amtail and Nazirabad unions in the Sadar upazila and Fatehpur and Munshibazar unions in Rajnagar upazila recently.

Ramkrishna Das of Basuria village in Amtail union said the flood damaged crops on his 150 bighas and washed away fishes from six ponds. He is in deep crisis because he can not transplant Aman seedlings.

Dibakar Das of the same village said he went to the agricultural office at Moulvibazar for Aman seed but was frustrated. "The officer told me they are trying to collect seed for farmers", he said.

Abdul Hamid Mollah, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension, told this correspondent that his department was trying to arrange seed and seedlings. He said he hopes to distribute seeds among farmers.

But farmers say the government seed will be of little use as the sowing time will be over when those will be available.

Most of the affected people face another major problem-- how to rebuild their damaged houses. They said they need financial assistance. But government relief allocation is too poor to solve their problem. There is also no coordination between government departments and non-government organisations in relief distribution.

People of Munshibazar union in Rajnagar upazila alleged that the Union Parishad chairman and members are not giving relief to those who did not vote for them in the last election.

But chairmen of Munshibazar and Uttarbhag unions said they did not get sufficient relief for distribution.

Monsurnagar UP chairman Md Sadiqur Rahman and Tengra UP Chairman Abdul Kadir Mutalib in Rajnagar upazila alleged that government relief was not allocated there as they belonging to opposition Awami League.