BARA, Sept 11: Growing exploitation of the Chure region, which lies between Nepal’s hills and the Tarai plains, is putting Madhesh at increasing risk. Groundwater levels are falling, while fertile farmland is being covered with sand, raising fears that productive agricultural land could eventually turn into barren wasteland.
The Chure is the main source of water for irrigating the Tarai. Stretching from Parsa to Saptari in Madhesh Province, it is Nepal’s youngest, softest and most fragile mountain range, formed from materials carried south from the Himalayas. Intensive extraction during winter, combined with floods and landslides during the monsoon, has further increased the risks.
Unregulated extraction from Chure rivers and streams and widespread deforestation have caused floodwaters to carry sand into fertile land in the southern plains. Large areas along riverbanks now resemble deserts. Studies show that many streams originating in the Chure, once flowing throughout the year, now remain dry for much of the year, while groundwater levels continue to decline.
A two-metre decline in the Chure’s water table can cause groundwater levels in the southern plains to fall by up to 100 metres. Extraction from Chure streams in violation of environmental assessments has reportedly buried thousands of bighas of farmland under sand between Parsa and Saptari.
Chure destruction has also damaged biodiversity and disrupted rainfall patterns, contributing to both excessive rainfall and drought. Forest habitats for wildlife, including the endangered one-horned rhinoceros, are also shrinking.
Locals in Saptari say extraction from the Sundari and Khado rivers has changed their flow. Rivers that once flowed year-round now carry water mainly after rainfall. Saptari and Siraha also suffered extensive forest encroachment during construction of the East West Mahendra Highway. After forests were cleared and encroached upon, the Churia Conservation Programme was introduced in the two districts in 1991.
The programme included forest management and pond construction in the Chure. The ponds were intended to collect rainwater and help maintain groundwater levels. But continued Chure exploitation has caused groundwater levels to fall, leading to recurring drinking water shortages.
Former President Yadav calls for preventing Chure degradation
Dhanusha faces similar problems. Forest destruction in its Chure area has lowered groundwater levels and dried up streams, creating shortages of both drinking and irrigation water.
The Chure around Bardibas in Mahottari is now facing particularly severe destruction. Locals accuse the state itself of contributing to the problem by establishing government offices on forest land in Bardibas despite the availability of public land in southern Mahottari and Janakpur.
Hundreds of bighas of forest land have been used for government offices, with further construction underway. The Armed Police Force Nepal has established its brigade on forest land, while the Nepal Army’s division office, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority and the provincial Office of the Auditor General are among other government institutions established there. Dozens of hotels and shops have also encroached on forest land.
Chure exploitation around Bardibas has contributed to water shortages in settlements including Jaleshwar, Ekadara Pipra, Matihani, Manarashiswa and Loharpatti. In Sarlahi, settlements established in the Chure are beginning to affect the southern plains, where hand pumps have started drying up. Rautahat, Bara and Parsa are facing similar problems as groundwater levels decline and borewells and hand pumps stop producing water during summer. Rautahat and Bara are among the districts most affected by Chure exploitation.
Deforestation and illegal extraction of stone, gravel and sand have severely damaged water sources, and Chure exploitation is considered a major reason for drying springs and hand pumps across the region.
Sujit Kumar Jha, chief of the Division Forest Office, Bara, warned that failure to take strong action could lead to environmental destruction as well as food and drinking water crises in several districts. Wells in Madhesh villages begin drying up as summer starts, while even deep tube wells stop producing water, he said. This signals a growing food and drinking water crisis.
Jha said the Chure is the lifeline of 61 percent of the population living in Madhesh and must therefore be protected from exploitation. Although the Chure may appear to be a barren range of hills made of stone, gravel, soil and forests, he said it is as essential as life itself to people living in the Chure and Tarai.
Experts say unregulated extraction from rivers and streams, deforestation, excessive use of forest resources, open grazing and unscientific land use have damaged Chure biodiversity and weakened the wider ecosystem. Watersheds in the Chure hills and Bhabar region are also steadily deteriorating.
State neglects Chure destruction
Madhesh was declared a drought-affected province on June 26, 2025, after a lack of rainfall, drying rivers and streams and declining groundwater created a severe water crisis.
Fifteen days later, on July 7, 2025, the government led by then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli declared Madhesh a crisis-affected province. Oli subsequently conducted an aerial inspection of the province and ordered the installation of 500 deep borewells.
Despite the declarations, borewell programme and relief measures, little was done to strictly enforce policies against Chure exploitation. As streams dried up and hand pumps stopped producing water, tankers were deployed to supply drinking water to villages across Madhesh. Yet no effective process appears to have been launched to prosecute illegal crusher operators extracting material from the Chure or to stop forest destruction.
Umesh Lal Das, chairman of the Bara chapter of civil society, accused the state of ignoring the crisis even as drying water sources threaten to turn Madhesh, and eventually the country, into a dry and barren region.
Das said the Chure cannot be protected by concealing human-made environmental crimes. He said neither the federal nor provincial governments had prepared a long-term plan to address the crisis despite the severe drought and water shortages that affected the entire Madhesh a year ago.
According to Das, forests were selectively cleared during the armed conflict, while settlements are now being established through encroachment on forest land. He accused the government of protecting water, forest and land mafias involved in occupying conservation areas, national parks and rivers, while failing to bring crusher, forest and river operators under legal action.
Das said Chure destruction began with a 71-year-old resettlement programme and construction of the East West Highway. In 2014, the Chure region, its watersheds and river systems were designated sensitive and high-risk areas, and a 20-kilometre wide, 800-kilometre long Chure region was declared an Environment Protection Area.
The programme was launched at the initiative of Nepal’s first President, Ram Baran Yadav, with support sought from the Nepal Army. The army established a Directorate of Forest and Environment Protection and deployed two battalions for Chure conservation. It also contributed to pond construction, embankment work, reconstruction and forest management.
But the political commitment behind the programme weakened after subsequent political changes. The team involving President Yadav, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Forest Minister Mahesh Acharya and Chure Programme chairman Rameshwor Khanal lost momentum. Since then, crusher industries have continued to break up and sell Chure materials, even in defiance of Supreme Court orders.
