BIRATNAGAR, Dec 30: Rangeli Municipality has asked the government to operate Rangeli border of Morang as an alternative border point of the district.
"Though the Rangeli municipality was considered a suitable alternative to Biratnagar border, the government has not shown any concern over this issue," said Dilip Bagadiya, mayor of Rangeli municipality.
He further said that the municipality will press the government to operate Rangeli border point. “
"Industrialists of Biratnagar have been considering the Bhantabari border of Sunsari district as an alternative to Biratnagar border but they are ignoring to recognize Rangeli border," he said.
Rangeli- Biratnaghar road blocked
Currently goods are being transported to Biratnagar custom even by re-routing from Bhimnagar-Bhantabari. Such re-routing is costlier and troublesome, he said. He further claimed that the cost will be reduced if the Rangeli border could be brought into operation instead of Bhimnagar.“
"Rangeli border is just 15 kilometers away from Biratnagar. So the additional cost for transportation will be reduced."
According to Bagadiya, the damaged Mirganj bridge of India does not seem to get renovated anytime soon, so goods usually imported via Biratnagar customs could be diverted through Rangeli border.
The municipality is preparing to send letters to the government, customs department and other concerned bodies, requesting them to bring Rangeli border point customs into operation.
Since the Mirganj bridge located five kilometers away from Jogbani has been damaged, transportation of carrier trucks has been obstructed via Jogbani-Biratnagar route.
Indeed the locals have been demanding to operate Rangeli border for long time.
The local representatives have promised many times to bring Rangeli border into operation, however, they have been failing to keep their promise.
It takes quite a long time to bring goods to Biratnagar border by re-routing from Bhantabari of Sunsari, which lengthens the route by 50 kilometers. Furthermore, the goods carriers have to wait for long queue at Biratnagar checkpoint.
According to Biratnagar Customs Office, it failed to collect its targeted revenue in the first two month of current fiscal year, however, the office has been collecting expected revenue for last three months. As per the statistics of Biratnagar Customs Office, the office has collected Rs 11.32 billion till the first five months of current fiscal year against the target of Rs 11.87 billion.
