Shallow and deep borewells fail during drought in Madhesh
Summary
During a severe drought in Madhesh, Nepal, many shallow and deep borewells remain non-functional due to lack of maintenance and electrification, forcing farmers to depend on rainfall despite heavy government investment in irrigation infrastructure.
Key Points
- Madhesh Province faced an acute drought during the paddy transplantation season, severely impacting farming.
- Around 9,000 borewells were installed in Madhesh with government funding, but nearly 1,500 are non-operational due to lack of maintenance and electrification.
- Failures in borewell operations are attributed to transformer theft, depleted groundwater, budget shortages, and inactive user committees.
- The government has declared Madhesh drought-affected and plans to repair all non-operational borewells and install 500 new deep borewells.
