Narail, April 27 -- Once a vibrant tapestry of lush, emerald fields swaying under the golden sun, Narail's farmland now bears the heavy scars of an insidious enemy - salinity.

Across the district's rivers and canals, salt is stealthily tightening its grip, casting a long shadow over the livelihoods of thousands of farmers.

Where once farmers gleefully drew life from the surface waters, today they find themselves shackled by the bitter reality of saline rivers and canals.

Forced to abandon traditional irrigation methods, they now turn to the bowels of the earth for groundwater, a desperate measure that is doubling their production costs and dimming the hopes of an agricultural bounty.

Gone are the days when Narail's fertile fields woul...