Bardiya, Jan. 22 -- Around 5,000 hectares of agricultural land in Rajapur, Bardiya, is parched this winter. The Karnali River Management Project could not supply water to the area because of a sharp decline in the Geruwa river's water flow.

The project is unable to supply water in the villages of Manau, Khairichanpur, Patabhar and Pashupatinagar. The water flow in the Geruwa, an offshoot of the Karnali river a few kilometres downstream from Chisapani, has gradually declined as the Karnali changed its course because of silt formation.

According to Kedar Shrestha, chief of the Karnali River Management Project, around 90 percent of the river water now flows to the western side in Kailali district and just 10 percent flows into the Geruwa r...