Madhesh province, which is known as the grain store of Nepal, is now under the grip of severe drought. Due to a weak monsoon, the fields are drying up, the soil is deeply furrowed and the planting season is almost lost.

Due to lack of irrigation, thousands of bighas of fields are barren and the farmers are in deep crisis of livelihood. Failure to grow crops has a direct impact not only on rural life, but also on national food security and economic stability.

The future of millions of families dependent on agriculture is now in doubt. On the one hand, there is a danger that food production will decrease due to not being able to plant rice, and on the other hand, there is a possibility that the price of food in the market will increase and the poor families will suffer more. A situation is being created where they cannot afford school fees, health care and daily necessities. This is not only weakening the economic status of farmers, but also weakening their mental condition. Rising debts, declining incomes and an uncertain future have forced hundreds of farmers to flee.

In such a critical situation, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has announced that 500 deep borings will be installed immediately after inspecting some drought-affected areas of Madhesh through a helicopter. This can be welcomed as an immediate relief. But this type of visit is considered by some as 'disaster tourism', where the sustainability of the solution is not guaranteed even if the sight is observed. Such announcements have been made in the past too, but there are many examples of plans being confined to paper due to lack of transparency, local participation and scientific basis in implementation.

Solutions like deep boring may be useful for immediate needs, but without long-term thinking, they can lead to new crises. Over-exploitation of groundwater has the potential to dry up the water resources in the future. Therefore, it is imperative to emphasize long-term strategies along with immediate relief. Infrastructure-oriented measures such as construction of irrigation canals, development of rainwater collection and storage systems and construction of reservoirs should be implemented immediately.

Madhesh's dry fields and waiting for irrigation are showing us all the reality of our land today, where people's lives are in crisis due to natural disasters and policy weakness. The solution to such problems, which are aggravated by climate change, is not possible with only short-term announcements. For that, long-term planning, coordination, technology and farmer-centered policies are necessary.

Finally, the country's kitchen is empty when the farmer's hands are empty. Greening the farm is not just about production, it is our social responsibility. So now that the speech and observation phase is over, the action, implementation and accountability phase must begin. When water reaches Madhesh, the fields are green and the farmers smile, only then will Nepal become self-sufficient and prosperous.