Kathmandu. All the eight districts of Madhes province have been declared disaster-prone areas. The cabinet took the decision on the proposal of Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak.

The proposal was submitted for declaring the districts of Madhes province as a crisis zone due to lack of adequate recharge of water in the land due to unseasonal rain and acute shortage of drinking water consumed by the general public due to over-exploitation and lack of water in rivers and wells.

The Madhes province government on Tuesday decided to recommend to the federal government to declare it a crisis-hit area. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, it is necessary to declare a disaster-prone area for three months from the date of publication of the notification by publishing a notice in the Nepal Gazette as the decision has also been taken by the Madhes State Government.

The province government has decided to recommend to the Government of Nepal to declare eight districts of Madhes province as disaster-prone areas in drinking water, irrigation and agriculture sectors due to drought. Sub-section 2 (d) of Section 14 of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2074 provides for making recommendations to the Government of Nepal if there is a need to declare the disaster-affected area as a crisis zone.

A proposal has been submitted to the Council of Ministers of the Government of Nepal seeking approval to declare Madhes as disaster-prone areas for three months from the date of publication of the notification in the Nepal Gazette.

According to the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers of Madhes Province, only 46 percent of the total cultivated area of Madhes province has been planted. Due to the monsoon-based agricultural system, there is a situation of decline in production due to drought.