Water sources are drying up in the lower Chure region due to climate change, population growth and encroachment.

 

Water level in dozens of streams has decreased in Udayapur over the years. Bal Bahadur Magar of Saune VDC-3 in Udayapur said his village has been facing water shortage even during monsoon.

 

People living in the Chure settlements are worried that the region could face drought this winter. Already, water shortage in the region has caused many families to migrate. Migration has been reported in places like Katari, Triyuga, Beltarbasaha, Saune, Risku, Bhalayadanda, Jogidaha, Hadiya and Sundarpur. 

Water scarcity has also prompted dozens of settlements in Saptari, Siraha and Udayapur districts to give up cattle farming.

 

Balaram Sapkota of Saptakoshi Municipality in Saptari said that water shortage has reached to the point where they they could hardly irrigate their farms. Keeping livestock is not possible these days, he added.

There is a smiliar situation in Piprapaschim, Hardiya, Kalyapur and Rupanagar villages.

 

In Siraha also, drying water sources has drove hundreds of families from villages like Targana, Govindapur and Bishnupurkatti.

 

People in Chandroudayapur, Badarmala and Karjana VDCs, among others, are also reeling under water shortage.

 

District Forest Officer Shree Prasad Baral said deforestation was one of the chief reasons behind the water shortage in the Chure region in recent years.