LAHAN, Aug 15: Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Dr Beduram Bhusal has stressed the need to 'recharge' the Chure region for overall development of agriculture in the Terai zone.
At a programme organized in Lahan, Siraha on Monday, Minister Busal expressed his concern over the depleting source of water springs and destruction of the Chure area and pointed out the need to recharge ground water in the Chure region.
Artistic portrayal of the environment
The Chure region spreads across 37 districts from Ilam in the east to Kanchanpur in the west, occupying 12.78 per cent of the total area of the country.
Bhuswal warned of Chure area turning into a desert within a few years if groundwater is not recharged timely. Offering a solution to this grave problem facing the Chure area, he called for building an east-west canal at the foothills of Chure. "By doing so, there will be no shortage of drinking water and irrigation could be ensured round-the-year in the Terai zone known to be the bread basket of Nepal," the Minister asserted.
Furthermore, he viewed that the river water in the Chure could be managed for irrigation thereby putting an end to the situation of river water going to waste in some places while other places suffering drought.
He said that the three-tier government should work towards putting in place construction of reservoir-based ponds, tourist centers, running fisheries and commercial rearing of ducks in the foothills of Chure.
