Diginala ( Khagrachhari) Correspondent

Nestled along the banks of the hilly Maini River, Dighinala witnessed nature's fury at close range this year. In July, continuous heavy rainfall coupled with flash floods flowing down from India inundated nearly 60 upazilas across seven districts, including Khagrachari, Rangamati, and Bandarban. Dighinala was no exception.

Vast areas of Merung, Kobakhali, and surrounding localities were submerged, leaving around 8,000 people stranded by floodwaters. Of them, nearly 3,500 sought refuge in emergency shelters. Road communication between Dighinala and the Rangamati upazilas of Langadu and Baghaichhari remained disrupted for several days, intensifying the suffering of local residents.

As the floodwaters gradually receded, the true extent of the devastation became apparent. In this agriculture-dependent region, the disaster dealt its harshest blow to farmlands.

More than 7,000 farmers lost their Aus paddy, Aman seedbeds, and summer vegetable crops, causing an estimated financial loss of around BDT 115 million. Across Khagrachari district, total losses in the agriculture and fisheries sectors exceeded BDT 660 million, while nearly 15,000 families were affected. For people who have little or no savings, losing an entire cropping season means surviving the following months under the burden of debt.

In response, the Khagrachari District Council distributed relief assistance among approximately 2,500 flood-affected families in Dighinala. While the support provided temporary relief, it was far from sufficient to address the long-term challenges. This brings another, perhaps even more serious, issue into focus—the mounting pressure of microcredit loan repayments.

Microfinance institutions operate extensively across almost every rural area of Bangladesh, and the hill districts are no exception. As flood victims struggled to rebuild their lives, the burden of regular loan installments became increasingly unbearable.

Recognizing the situation, the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) instructed all licensed microfinance institutions to suspend loan installment collection for three months in flood-affected areas of Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Bandarban, Khagrachari, and Rangamati. The directive also instructed institutions to provide relief, support rehabilitation efforts, offer emergency loans where necessary, and promptly return clients' savings upon request. The Khagrachari District Council also urged the immediate implementation of the directive through a press briefing.

On paper, the MRA's decision appears both timely and compassionate. However, reports from several media outlets suggest a different reality. Allegations have emerged that regular installment collection has continued in many flood-affected areas, including Baghaichhari in Rangamati and Dighinala in Khagrachari.

Local journalists and affected borrowers have claimed that some field-level staff continued collecting installments despite the official suspension order. The MRA circular further requires microfinance institutions to submit detailed accounts of relief and rehabilitation expenditures from their surplus funds, certified by the local administration, within one month—a commendable step toward ensuring institutional accountability. Yet an important question remains: if the directive is not properly enforced at the grassroots level, where can affected people seek justice?

This gap is particularly evident in remote hill upazilas such as Dighinala, where administrative monitoring is comparatively weak, communication remains limited, and many borrowers are unaware of the legal avenues available to lodge complaints.

Consequently, fear of social embarrassment, pressure from field officers, or concerns about losing access to future loans often prevent victims from protesting violations of the directive.

Addressing this crisis requires a comprehensive approach. First, local administrations and upazila authorities must play a more active role in monitoring the implementation of the MRA directive through regular inspections and accessible complaint mechanisms.

Second, borrowers should be made aware of their rights, including clear information on where and how to report violations. Third, Bangladesh should consider introducing a permanent disaster-responsive microcredit policy for disaster-prone hill regions so that emergency financial relief does not depend on issuing separate circulars after every flood.

The people of Dighinala have long learned to live with the challenges posed by nature. But when natural disasters are compounded by institutional negligence, even their resilience has its limits. Although the floodwaters have receded, the burden of debt continues to weigh heavily on countless families.

Ensuring that flood victims do not drown under the pressure of loan installments is no longer merely a policy issue—it is an urgent humanitarian responsibility.