LAHAN, AUGUST 14
Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development Beduram Bhusal spoke of the need to 'recharge' the Chure region for overall development of agriculture in the Tarai zone.
At a programme organised at Lahan, Siraha, today, Minister Busal expressed concern about the depleting source of water springs and destruction of Chure area and pointed out the need to recharge ground water in the Chure region.
The Chure region spreads across 37 districts from Ilam in the east to Kanchanpur in the west occupying 12.78 per cent of the total area of the country.
Bhuswal warned of Chure area turning into a desert within few years if ground water is not recharged. Offering a solution to this grave problem facing the Chure area, he called for building an East-West canal at the foothills of Chure. "By doing so, there will be no shortage of drinking water and irrigation could be ensured round-the-year in the Tarai zone known tas the bread basket of Nepal," the minister asserted.
Furthermore, he viewed that the river water in the Chure could be managed for irrigation thereby putting an end to the situation of river water going waste in some places while other places suffered drought.
He said that the threetier government should work towards putting in place reservoir-based ponds, tourist centres, fisheries and commercial rearing of ducks in the foothills of the Chure.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 15, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
