Parched for ideas

The government must stop distributing tranches of hollow promises as relief to the victims of natural disasters.

A cabinet meeting last week declared Madhesh Province a disaster crisis zone, citing an acute shortage in water supply caused by prolonged droughts. All eight districts in the province are facing a severe water shortage, which has affected the daily life of the people there. The provincial government has tried to assuage the effects of the drought by dispatching a horde of firetrucks and water supply trucks to ensure access to drinking water; the demand for water for other purposes remains unaddressed. Agriculture has been identified as the hardest hit sector, with the annual rice transplantation stalled for weeks in the absence of proper irrigation. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli embarked on an inspection tour of the province on Friday and expressed dismay over the sight of barren plots of land, which would otherwise be filled with paddy. Madhesh province, the grain basket of Nepal, occupies 26 percent of the total paddy fields across the country, contributing around 37 percent to the annual national paddy consumption of 4 million tons. The province saw a 10.70 percent rise in its paddy production year-to-year, with the highest productivity of 3.96 tonnes per hectare. This year, however, a decrease in production is more likely, unless the government formulates and implements timely solutions for the crisis.