TIKAPUR, Dec 22: India's paramilitary Seema Sahastra Bal (SSB) has obstructed the construction of a river embankment in Kailali district.
SSB has obstructed construction of the embankment on the Mohana River near Tikapur Municipality-7, claiming that the land lies on the Indian side. They also warned not to construct the embankment .
The Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project is building the embankment on the bank of the river. The project is a national pride project and the construction contract for the 750-meter embankment was awarded to Raman Sky JV Construction Company . The company was constructing the river embankment as per the contract agreement.
According to Dhirendra Shahi, a representative of the construction company, if the construction is obstructed, the company will have to halt work on a larger than 50-meter area. “The SSB has marked out one place for embankment construction only on the other side of the river,” he said, adding that the construction company has informed the project authorities about the issue.
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The project had already carried out a field study for embankment construction on the river bank.
According to Ramlal Dagaura Tharu, chairman of Tikapur Municipality-7, the Indian side has obstructed the construction work on land that is on the Nepali side.
He also said that pillar number 108 has been swept away by the river and this has created a border dispute between the two sides.
The Indian side has been claiming the land between pillar numbers 107 and 109 and refusing to accept pillar number 108 as a border point. Tharu said that there should be a clear border line to resolve the dispute.
“The Indian side should have separated out the border clearly before obstructing the construction of the embankment,” Tharu also said, adding that the Indians should not be getting in the way of embankment work in a flood-prone area.
According to Mohan Kumar Shakya, head of the irrigation project, the project has been informed about the obstruction by the Indian side. He also said that he has been in the field to make a study.
It is not the work of the project to solve a border dispute, Shakya said. “We have stopped work in the area; we will carry out embankment construction in another area.”
There has been a border dispute in the area since a long time and flooding in the river has been sweeping away the border pillars.
