Although 45 percent of Nepal's total land area is covered by forests, the densely populated Madhesh province has only 3.72 percent of forest area. While at least 40 percent of the total area should be covered by forests for a clean environment.
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Geeta Sah of Bateshwor Rural Municipality-4 in Dhanusha has been fetching water from a well for the last 15 years. This compulsion has not come to her just like that. She dug a well near her house twice. But no water came. She had to spend 20,000 rupees to dig a well at her neighbor's house, which provides drinking water. When the heat starts to increase, her worries start again, will there be a shortage of water? She said that the water level in the well has decreased in the winter itself and that more than 100 households in the village are facing the same problem as hers.
Although 45 percent of the total land area in Nepal is forested, only 3.72 percent of the forest area is in the densely populated Madhesh province. Whereas at least 40 percent of the total area should be covered by forests for a clean environment. Due to this, other environmental problems are increasing along with water shortage in the Terai-Madhesh. Last year, the federal and provincial governments declared Madhesh a dry zone after the shortage of water. Parties pledge to prioritize Chure forest conservation and water crisis resolution during elections. But in practice, Madhesh's water crisis is deepening.
It remains to be seen how parties including UML and Congress, which are contesting the elections, will raise the water crisis in Madhesh in their election manifestos. But the candidates of these parties in Dhanusha have said that drinking water and irrigation are their first priority along with Chure conservation.
According to the Ministry of Forests, 22,200 hectares of forest in Madhesh are occupied. Of this, 6,831 hectares of forest area, including national, partnership and concession forests, are encroached on in all eight districts. Indiscriminate river exploitation and mining continue in the Chure region.
Nepali Communist Party's Dhanusha-2 candidate Ram Chandra Jha claimed that he had decided to stop the indiscriminate exploitation taking place in the Chure region when he was the Minister for Local Development and that this was included in the party's commitment letter for Chure conservation. Manish Kumar Jha, the candidate for Dhanusha-3 from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) also says that he has repeatedly raised the issue of water crisis in Madhesh in the parliament and will continue to make it a national issue in the coming days.
Upendra Yadav-led JSP Nepal has made public its election manifesto for the upcoming House of Representatives elections to be held on Falgun 21. Point number 27 of the manifesto mentions the implementation of various programs to protect the Chure and solve the water crisis.
The activists had marched to Kathmandu on foot along with protest marches and sit-ins to draw the attention of the federal government to protect the Chure and solve the water crisis in Madhesh. However, due to the Chure becoming deserted due to indiscriminate excavation and encroachment, the groundwater level has decreased, turning the fertile land of Madhesh into a barren land, crop yields are decreasing, and there is a shortage of drinking water.
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