KATHMANDU, August 1: The government is preparing to send the newly updated map of Nepal to the international community including the southern neighbour India.
The government is making necessary preparations to publish the map in English and send it to the international community including the United Nations Organization (UNO) and Google, according to the Ministry of Land Management.
“We are soon delivering the revised map incorporating Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura to the international community,” said Minister for Land Management, Padma Aryal. For that, the texts used in the map will be translated into English. She added that the map will have been delivered by the end of Nepali month of Shrawan (mid-August).
Information Officer for the Department of Measurement, Damodar Dhakal shared that they had already proceeded to print 4,000 copies of the updated version of Nepal’s map in the English language to be delivered to the international communities. “A sub-committee has been formed under the coordination of the deputy director of the department. The revised version of the map will be available in the English language,” Dhakal added.
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The department has already printed 25,000 copies of the latest version of the map to be distributed within the country. Local units, provincial and all other public offices will be delivered the copies free of cost while the public can buy it at Rs 50.
The ministry is also preparing to publish a book including the encroached territories of Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura. “However, our first priority for now is to print the English version of the updated map and distribute it to the international community,” minister Aryal said.
The Nepal government on May 20 released the revised political and administrative map of Nepal that incorporates Limpiyadhura, Lipu Lekh and Kalapani, the territories encroached upon by India. The map was unanimously endorsed by the House of Representative (HoR) on June 13.
The government, while presenting its annual plans and policies for the fiscal year 2020-21 on May 15, had committed to issue a new map of Nepal incorporating the encroached region of Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura.
The new map has retrieved 335 sq km of encroached land. Gunji, Nabhi and Kuti villages have been included within the Nepali border. The present map in practice, issued in 2032BS, does not have 335 sq km of the Limpiyadhura region.
Earlier, the Department of Survey had prepared the map including those territories and submitted it to the Ministry of Land Management. Technicians at the Survey Department had prepared the map with accurate scale, projection and coordinate system. The department had also provided factual evidence including a map drawn during the Treaty of Sugauli, another map brought from London, receipts of payment of land revenue and the order issued by the then Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher, to the ministry. One of the high-ranking officers at the department said, “Collecting proof is an important task, which we have successfully accomplished.”
The government had been under pressure to issue the new map by incorporating the territories encroached upon by India since the southern neighbor unveiled its new map placing Nepali territory of Kalapani inside Indian borders.
Indian home ministry released the political map placing the Nepali territory of Kalapani inside the Indian borders after creating Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as its union territories.
The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee under the House of Representatives had issued a written directive to the government on November 11 to issue a new map including the encroached territory. Another meeting of the committee in the Nepali month of Baishakh had also sent a directive to the government to publicize the new map claiming that the Limpiyadhura region is the source of the Mahakali River- the Nepal-India border as stated in the Sugauli Treaty.
According to the Department of Survey, the map of a country is prepared in two different ways - administrative map and boundary map. Boundary map is prepared after the administrative one is finalized, for which technicians have to make a field visit. The one endorsed is the administrative one.
