Water Crisis In Madhes

On 23 July 2025, Madhes Province was officially declared a "Drought-Affected Zone" as a reaction to the long drought that destroyed paddy saplings and fragmented farmland. Two days later, on 25 July, the Prime Minister flew over Bara and Mahottari districts and declared the laying of 500 deep-water borings as an emergency response. This brought relief and hope to farmers eagerly waiting for rain.

At its face value, the fresh borings appear to have a simple technological fix for reclaiming arid agricultural land. Extracting water from pure aquifers appears to be a sensible and simple answer, but what will be its long-term effect? Denial of the long-term water crisis is not possible. The extended drought has already drained groundwater and vaporised surface water, creating severe shortages for potable purposes and irrigation. Paddy transplanting in Madhes is far lower than the national average, and individuals queue up with water buckets in front of depleting supplies or hold out for tankers. If human beings are so woefully short of water, it is not hard to imagine what the condition of crops must be.

500 deep-water borings installed could be a pragmatic short-term solution, but what if the Terai, Nepal's breadbasket, were to become like Punjab, India's breadbasket? After the Green Revolution of the 1960s, Punjab embraced paddy farming based on water-intensive crops supported by subsidised farm electricity, leading to over-extraction of groundwater. Millions of tubewells were drilled, natural recharging levels declined, and farmers became trapped in a cycle of digging deeper after depleting vanishing aquifers. Madhes is facing the same threat today: an unsustainable production boom in its initial years on an unsustainable foundation, which will be followed by a devastating bust.

It is catastrophically shortsighted to address deep-water boring as an exclusive solution. The Terai aquifer system, all its layers, has much groundwater, yet most of it is "fossil water"—an unreplenishable one even by monsoon rain. Groundwater sustains rivers during the dry season and the wetlands. Overdrafting would result in permanent aquifer drawdown, river aridification, and undermining long-term water security.

At the root of this problem lies the Chure range, often called Nepal’s “water tower”. Chure is directly linked to the health of Terai’s groundwater, as these fragile hills act like a sponge, absorbing monsoon rains and slowly releasing them to recharge aquifers, rivers, and springs. Yet Chure has been degraded by rampant deforestation, climate change, and large-scale extraction of boulders, gravel, and sand for construction. This destruction has resulted in spasmodic rain, monsoon flash floods, and dry season low recharge. Degradation of Chure has been long cautioned by experts to establish the desertification of the Terai, but government policy has sometimes prioritised short-term economic gain over long-term sustainability. The budget for FY 2078/79, for instance, allowed aggregate extraction under Point 199, which was controversial before being halted by the Supreme Court.

Although the President Chure-Terai Madhes Conservation Development Board was set up in 2071 BS, it has been plagued by weak institutional capacity, lack of proper financing, and inadequate political will. Even money budgeted consistently goes unspent—proof of a political choice to prioritise commerce over survival for millions. The current crisis, therefore, is not merely the result of this year's monsoon failure but of decades of political complacency, systemic neglect, and flawed projects. Major irrigation schemes such as the Sikta, Babai, Bheri Babai, and Sunkoshi-Marin Diversion have been postponed for decades. In Madhes, the Bagmati and Kamala projects continue to remain plagued by low water levels and weak infrastructure. Following these failures, farmers have no other choice but to rely on millions of tubewells, pumping groundwater without any arrangement for its recharge.

The long-term neglect of Chure and groundwater resources is mercilessly impacting Madhes's people, especially farmers. Agriculture fails without water, incomes vanish, and social displacement accelerates. Groundwater exploitation can trap smallholder farmers in the trap of reliance and lack, from which they would not bounce back with their own limited funds and technological endowment. Water has been the anchor of civilisation, and for the agrarian societies, it is the basis of existence. Now this calamity directly jeopardises the life, dignity, and existence of farmers of Madhes.

It is late—but not too late—to act. The 500 deep borings need to be considered only as a stopgap measure and not as a permanent solution. The permanent water security of Madhes requires the President Chure-Terai Madhes Conservation Master Plan to be implemented immediately in the areas of conservation, plantation, and restoration of ecological well-being of the Chure hills. Equally significant is the establishment of rainwater harvesting and recharge pits on farmland so that communities can harvest and utilise monsoon rain. A comprehensive water resource management approach is needed to more harmoniously balance the use of surface water, groundwater, and rainwater.

At the community level, community-managed irrigation infrastructure such as the conventional kulos must be improved and reinforced, with lining of canals and community ownership to ensure equitable distribution. Farmers should be encouraged as well in cultivating less water-intensive crops, diversification of crops, and conservation agriculture, including mulching and drip or sprinkler irrigation where appropriate.

Healing the Terai is more than an environmental or agricultural mission. It is a challenge to Nepal's federal promise of justice and equity. Nepal's breadbasket is at stake, and its future depends on sustainable solutions rather than quick fixes. Drilling deeper might provide relief in the short run, but real security will only come when Nepal starts thinking—and acting—deeper.

(The author is a B.Sc. Ag. graduate  from AFU, Rampur.)