Kathmandu- The government has decided to declare Madhesh Province a disaster-prone area. The cabinet meeting held in Baluwatar decided to declare Madhesh Province a disaster-prone area after there was a shortage of drinking water and irrigation in 8 districts of Madhesh Province due to lack of rainfall even during the monsoon.

The cabinet took the decision on the proposal of Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak. The proposal was submitted to declare the area as a disaster-prone area as the districts of Madhesh Province have not been able to sufficiently replenish the ground water due to lack of rainfall and overexploitation has caused the drying up of underground water sources, which has led to an extreme shortage of drinking water for the general public, and the lack of water in rivers and canals has also affected the irrigation system.

The Madhesh Province government had decided to recommend to the federal government to declare the area a disaster-prone area on Tuesday. The Ministry of Home Affairs has stated that since the Madhesh Province government has also decided to declare a disaster-hit area for three months from the date of publication of the notice by publishing a notice in the Nepal Gazette, the Ministry of Home Affairs has stated that it is necessary to declare a disaster-hit area for three months from the date of publication of the notice.

The provincial government had recommended to the Government of Nepal to declare the entire Madhesh Province as a disaster-hit area due to drought in eight districts of the Madhesh Province.

Sub-section 2 (r) of Section 14 of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2074 BS, there is a provision to make a recommendation to the Government of Nepal if there is a situation where a disaster-hit area needs to be declared.

As the Government of Nepal has recommended for a decision to declare the entire Madhesh Province as a disaster-prone area, a proposal has been submitted to the Council of Ministers of the Government of Nepal for approval to declare the entire Madhesh Province as a disaster-prone area for three months from the date of publication of the notice in the Nepal Gazette.