Ram Prabodh Chaudhary (60) of Matihani-3 in Mahottari prepared the seedbed twice. However, his two-bigha field still remains barren. “We haven't had any rainfall this season. I’ve fed seedlings to the cattle twice. I’m fearing famine,” he said.
Chaudhary has been earning his livelihood by cultivating paddy. “What can I feed my family now?” Chaudhary said, showing his barren paddy fields. Chaudhary is not the only one affected by drought. Most families in Madhes are facing the same situation.
Paddy transplantation is not gaining momentum in most districts of Madhes due to low rainfall. The situation is so dire that the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Committee demanded on Friday that the government declare Mahottari a ‘drought-hit region’ and provide relief for local people.
Transplantation progress at 60 percent
Roshan Kumar Mehta, the spokesperson for the Agriculture Directorate of Madhes Province, stated that out of 401,650 hectares of paddy fields in the eight districts of Madhes Province, paddy transplantation has been completed on only 242,507 hectares, which is only about 60 percent.
Paddy transplantation has only been completed in fields that have irrigation facilities. According to Mehta, transplantation hasn’t been done in fields that depend on monsoon rains. Even the transplanted seedlings are drying up. Water flow in irrigation canals has also reduced. Agriculture experts predict a significant decline in paddy output in the province this year.
Farmers are calling for the entire province to be declared a ‘drought-hit region’. Most of the 1,156,715 households in Madhes Province depend on agriculture. Since paddy production has been affected by drought, they are facing the threat of famine.
“This is only the second time in my life that I’m experiencing a drought. Water flow in canals has reduced, paddy seedlings are drying up. Paddy transplantation hasn’t even been done in the first week of August,” said Ram Bahadur Mandal (71) of Matihani-7. “What can we feed our families?”
Paddy is the major food crop in Madhes. “I experienced a similar drought 25 years ago. We are facing it again,” Mandal said. “I prepared the seedbed a second time after the seedlings dried up due to lack of rain. Now, once again, the seedlings have started to dry up.”
Mandal attributes the lack of rainfall in Madhes to environmental destruction. “You won’t get rain if you cut down trees,” he added. Chure expert Dr Bijay Kumar Singh explained that excessive exploitation of Chure for construction materials has damaged water sources. “This is just the beginning. Life in Madhes is impossible without preserving Chure,” he added.
Bharat Mandal, a 70-year-old rickshaw puller from Matihani-7, is finding it difficult to work due to excessive heat. “Until three decades ago, we used to export rice, lentils, maize, and other food grains to India from Madhes. But now we are facing famine,” he said. “This is all because of excessive exploitation of nature. People have destroyed rivers and forests. Population rise is another problem.”
Paddy seedlings are rapidly drying up in cultivated fields. Farmers have been unable to irrigate their crops adequately as water flow in canals has decreased. Wells are also drying up. About 90 percent of water sources in Birgunj, Janakpur, and Jaleshwar have already dried up.
Data from the Agriculture Directorate paints a grim picture of paddy transplantation. “The progress in paddy transplantation in Mahottari stands at 20 percent, while it’s 31 percent in Dhanusha and 57 percent in Sarlahi,” Mehta said. “Since the water level in rivers originating in Chure has dropped, even paddy fields under the coverage of Koshi, Kamala, and Bagmati irrigation projects are not receiving sufficient water. The same is the case in the coverage area of Ganak Canal in Parsa,” Mehta said. Mahat said many farmers haven’t been able to transplant paddy, while cracks have started to appear in cultivated fields due to lack of sufficient water.
Call to declare Madhes ‘drought-hit zone’
Data from the Directorate of Agriculture shows the condition of rice cultivation is critical in Mahottari, Dhanusha, and Sarlahi. Mehta said that paddy transplantation has been completed on only 20 percent of fields in Mahottari, 31 percent in Dhanusha, and 57 percent in Sarlahi. “Fields cultivated after sporadic rains and using irrigated water are drying up due to drought,” he added. According to him, the low water level of the rivers flowing through the Chure region has led to insufficient irrigation in the command areas of Koshi, Kamala, and Bagmati River Irrigation Project. There is a similar problem in the command area of Gandak Canal in Parsa.
