PARASI, June 3: The people of Susta have called for clearly specifying the Susta area in the new political and administrative map of Nepal recently endorsed by the government.
They have demanded that the government should also raise the issue of Susta while raising the topic of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura in talks with India regarding settling the border dispute.
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The Susta folks have claimed that India has encroached upon 14 thousand 500 hectares of Nepali land in Susta rural municipality-5 of Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta West). They have urged the government to include this land also in the new map of Nepal.
The government, on May 20, issued a new political and administrative map incorporating the Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura areas bordering with India in Darchula district in the far west of the country after India unilaterally included these territories in its political and administrative map it issued in November and last month inaugurated a link road up the border with China via these territories belonging to Nepal.
President of Save Susta Campaign, Gopal Gurung, said the government should demarcate the border by installing border marker pillars also in the land encroached by India including Susta.
According to him, India has not allowed the Susta people to use around 19 thousand 480 hectares of their land referring to it as disputed. The locals have been using only 7,000 hectares remain land. India encroached upon Nepali land in Susta between 2006 and 2008.
Gurung complained that the people tilling the 7,000 hectares remaining land have also not been provided with land-ownership certificates so far and urged the government to immediately provide the land-ownership certificates.
