Until a few years ago, the Khauraha stream was so big people could hardly cross it even in the winter season. But for the past couple of years, the stream, which passes through Thakurbaba area of Bardiya National Park, has had very little water in the dry season. And as such, these days, children are seen fishing in the stream’s ankle-deep water.

“One could swim in the stream during the scorching heat of April-May,” said Rajan Chaudhary, a local. “The stream is drying up now.”

The stream gets flooded in the rainy season and dries up in the winter, Chaudhary added. This is the fate of only the Khauraha stream but also several rivers and rivulets that flow in the Bardiya National Park area. All of them are gradually drying up.

“Various irrigation canals that drain water from the Karnali river are drying up now,” Rajan said. “People are dependent on underground water. And the level of underground water is also decreasing in the area over the past three-four years.”

Conservationists are worried. The wildlife in Bardiya National Park have been highly affected by the drying up of water sources in the area, they say. The scarcity of water has led to more animals entering human settlements in search of water and causing human-wildlife conflict.

The Karnali, the country’s longest water system, is the main natural source of water for wildlife in Bardiya National Park. A sharp decline in the water flow in Geruwa river, an offshoot of the Karnali River a few kilometres downstream from Chisapani, has affected wildlife in the western part of the national park.

Over the past few years, Geruwa River has been gradually changing its course from the main stream of Karnali. As a consequence, the water flow has declined sharply, as floods in the past have deposited much silt at Lalmatiya.

According to Anu Chaudhary, a nature guide, the Geruwa area is the main habitat of tigers, rhinos, elephants and spotted deer, among other animals. The number of wildlife has decreased considerably over the past few years due to shortage of water sources. “Dolphins used to be sighted in the Geruwa river until a few years back,” Anu said. “The water level is only knee-deep now. Wild animals are hardly seen in the area now mainly due to lack of water sources.”

There are several offshoots of the Geruwa river; among them, the Khauraha is the main one. Several other offshoots that pass through the national park area have already turned into sand beds.

Bardiya National Park, one of the country’s major national parks in Tarai covering an area of 968 sq km, initiated the construction of artificial ponds some three decades ago to resolve the drinking water shortage for wildlife. Over the decades, the national park has built around 200 artificial ponds, of which 45 have water replenished throughout the year through solar-powered water pumps while the rest rely on rainwater for replenishment.

“Such artificial ponds are very useful for wildlife but they are not enough for big animals like rhinos,” said Ajit Tumbahangphe, Bardiya chief of the National Trust for Nature Conservation. “The rhinos love swimming in the natural flow of water.”

Tumbahangphe said that as there are no natural streams, rhinoceros enter India in search of food. Similarly, the main habitat of rhinos is from Gaida Machan to the Tinkune, Hattisar, and Khauraha areas of the park.

“After the main source of water in the park dried up, the biological diversity was badly affected,” Tumbahangphe said. “Due to water shortage, there has been an increase in the number of wild animals entering India through the Kothiyaghat route under the Khata bio-corridor.”

According to Tumbahangphe, the problem of water in the park started some six or seven years ago after the big and small rivers and streams dried up, affecting the lives of wild animals as well as humans who were dependent on farming. Similarly, until some 24 years ago, there used to be frequent sightings of dolphins in the Geruwa river, which flows through Bardiya National Park.

Ramesh Kumar Thapa, former chief conservation officer of the park, said that in 1984, a flood destroyed 700 bigha [474 hectares] of land in Geruwa Rural Municipality.

“Some 40 years ago, the water level was equal in the east and west offshoots of Karnali,” Thapa said. “Due to excessive excavation, the offshoot on the Kailai side became deeper, and the riverbed materials piled up and formed a mound, becoming a barrier to water flow on the Geruwa side. When the excavated materials were sent for the construction of a dam and bridge in Girijapur, India, it not only started drying up the river but also increased the risk of flooding in the rainy season.”

Dr Ashok Ram, the park’s chief conservation officer, said that the main source of water in the park is the Karnali (Geruwa) river, and the Geruwa coastal area is also the main wildlife habitat in the park.

“Around 80 cusecs [one cusec equals 28.317 litres of liquid flow per second] of water from the Karnali River go to the Ranijamara irrigation project, and during the winter, Karnali has only 200 cusecs of water, so it has become dry,” Ram said. “Due to excavation on the Kailali side, there is no water in around seven offshoots inside the park.”

The water was returned by dredging the riverbed in October 2023 and again in January this year, but after doing that, the water soon stopped as it was deeper on the Kailali side, where the water flows more, Ram added.

According to Ram, this year the provincial government has allocated Rs20 million through the Division Irrigation Office in Bardiya for riverbed dredging in the Geruwa, and the park has written to the Ministry of Forests and Environment, seeking a mandate as the irrigation office cannot directly work in the park area.

Bardiya is the largest national park in the Tarai and the second major habitat of tigers after the Chitwan National Park. As per the latest tiger census, Nepal has a total of 355 tigers and 125 of them are in the Bardiya National Park.