Madhesh Province Declared Disaster Crisis Zone Amid Severe Drought

Kathmandu, Nepal – The Cabinet has officially declared Madhesh Province a disaster crisis zone due to severe drought and acute water shortages plaguing all eight of its districts. The decision, made on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, followed a proposal from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The declaration comes in response to a prolonged lack of rainfall, which has critically impacted irrigation systems, led to a significant drop in groundwater levels, and caused water sources to dry up. This has resulted in an extreme scarcity of both drinking and irrigation water across the province.

The government’s action was taken under Sub-section 1 of Section 32 of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2017, which permits such declarations in the face of severe disasters. The ongoing dry spell, unusually occurring during what should be the peak monsoon season, has pushed Nepal’s Tarai region to the brink of an agricultural crisis. Farmers are struggling to transplant paddy due to parched seedbeds and wilting saplings, raising serious concerns about an impending food shortage in this crucial rice-producing area.

The Madhesh provincial government had already declared the province a drought-hit zone days prior, attempting to provide drinking water using fire trucks and tankers. However, these efforts proved insufficient to meet agricultural demands. This mid-monsoon water scarcity not only threatens the livelihoods of farmers but also poses a significant risk to the national economy. Experts warn that this situation highlights Nepal’s increasing vulnerability to climate change, characterized by a rise in extreme weather events such as droughts, erratic rainfall, and unseasonal temperature fluctuations.