KATHMANDU, Feb 7: Residents of both the countries of Koshi barrage in the border area are staging a protest demanding the operation of Nepal-India train service.

On Monday, two national representatives sitting at the Nepal-India border at Koshi barrage decided to hold a protest demanding the operation of train services.

For the operation of the train service, the Indian side is going to hold a joint protest with the support of the Nepalis side as well. Mohan Prasad Rastagi, chairman of the Indian Rail Andolan Sangharsh Committee, said that according to the Koshi Agreement concluded in 2011, the movement will be organized to exert pressure on authorities to bring the railway back into operation using the railway track running through Bhimnagar to Dharan in India from 2016 to 2040.

Former Tourism Minister of Province 1, Jagdish Kusiyat, said that he felt the need for a joint Nepal-India rail service movement and that he was going to start a joint movement. He insisted that the operation of two national railways is necessary for religious tourism along with employment and development.

For a decade, the residents of the area have been fighting against the Indian government for connecting the railway line to Bhimnagar. A gathering of former parliamentarians, MLAs, stakeholders and chiefs of India's border areas including Birpur, Bhimnagar, Basmatia held at Koshi Barrage has decided to expand the Andolan Sangharsh Committee and move forward.

Under the Koshi project, India had commissioned a 47 km rail line from Bhimnagar to Dharan on the border of Sunsari and Saptari and from Chakarghati to Chatra. At that time, train stations were set up at Kushaha, Madhuban, Chakraghati, Chatra, Bange and Ghopa camps for trains leaving from Bhimnagar in India to build the Koshi barrage.

 
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