Two different APF teams sent to the mountainous border districts of Rasuwa and Mustang for a basic study as part of a plan to deploy border security forces have reported on the daunting side of the project. The government has gone about nurturing the project under a cabinet decision to add 7,000 personnel to the APF and recently approved recruitment of 2,700. [break]
The first field study for the project shows that setting up security bases at key entry points along the border faces a wide range of difficulties regarding acquisition of land, infrastructure, weather and logistics, sources say.
Rasuwa and Mustang, the two major entry points from where the government plans to start deployment of border security forces, pose outstanding challenges. The APF study team saw in Rasuwa a need to set up three bases at different places but at the same time reported that there was no public land that could be used and private land has undergone a sharp price hike despite the nature of the terrain.
With the 17-km Syafrubesi-Rasuwagadi road under construction by the Chinese government, private land in Dhunche, Rasuwagadi and Kalikasthan-- recommended sites for the security bases-- has seen an unprecedented surge in prices quite similar to the phenomenon seen in the capital. “Besides, there is a tendency among the locals not to sell land other than within their own communities,” a senior APF official said.
Rasuwagadi (Timure) is one of the traditionally much-used entry points for Nepali and Tibetan traders. The Chinese government is racing to develop Kerung, a town some 25 km from the border, as a trade centre and also building a black-topped road to connect it with Rasuwagadi. “Rasuwa will be requiring a strong focus due to both the usual flow of people and the prospects of its turning into a market area,” an official said.
The APF plans to initially set itself up in Rasuwa with the main base at district headquarters Dhunche and two units at Rasuwagadi and Kalikasthan. Kalikasthan, which borders Nuwakot, is the most populated bazzar featuring relatively higher trading behavior and educational levels. Sources say Rasuwa appears more sensitive in terms of border security because of the presence and flow of Tibetan activists.
Meanwhile, the APF is considering another “long range patrol” to upper Mustang as a first round report from there did not appear comprehensive and dependable. “If we are to literally guard the border, it will be quite cumbersome in Mustang,” a senior official at the Border Administration Department said.
“The difficult terrain is now almost deserted and people hardly live four or five months a year in a few sparsely populated areas because of the adverse effects of climate change,” he said. “Survival itself seems in jeopardy there.”
The two districts are considered security-sensitive zones where Tibetans four decades ago waged an armed ‘Khampa’ revolt. The government has been under pressure to tighten security on the northern border from where, the Chinese government complains, Tibetan refugees have been flowing freely and conducting illegal activities. The Chinese government is said to have pledged training and logistical and technical support for forces to curb the movement of Tibetan refugees.
Chief of the Border Administration Department, Additional Inspector General Koshraj Wanta, said the APF would soon discuss the findings and challenges at an all-party symposium which will include participation by government officials and experts.
Spokesman at the Home Ministry Jay Mukund Khanal said making arrangements on the northern border would be a long process and only initial preparations are on at the moment.
“Practically speaking, unless there are generous investments and efforts, what is possible now is only the setting up of bases at district headquarters or other accessible areas,” said a high-ranking official at the ministry. “Even in Rasuwa and Mustang, it takes considerable time. We at least need new recruitment and complete infrastructure.”
Although there has been no quick budgetary allocation so far to start the work, the government plans to deploy security forces in all 13 districts bordering China along a total length of 1414.88 km. The only entry point the APF now guards is Tatopani in Sindhupalchwok.
In the first week of October, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, Home Minister Bhim Rawal along with the chiefs of the Nepal Police, APF and the National Intelligence Department visited Mustang for an overview of border force deployment.
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