Stone pelting at India-Nepal border: Indian traders stage protest, block bridge

The villagers, who blocked the border bridge of river Kali said, they were upset with the lathi charging of some Indian traders on the Nepal side on Sunday

Following Sunday’s stone-pelting incident on the Indian workers by the Nepalese at the Indo-Nepal border in the Dharchula area of Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand, the traders and local residents have staged a protest here on Monday.

Kali River in Pithoragarh which acts as the border between India and Nepal (HT Photo)

The incident occurred during the construction of an embankment wall on river Kali on the Indian side, officials said. The wall is being built by India to prevent the flow of river which could lead to flooding on the Indian side during monsoon, added officials.

The river acts as the border between Nepal and India.

The villagers, who blocked the border bridge of river Kali said, they were upset with the lathi charging of some Indian traders on the Nepal side on Sunday.

Divesh Shashni, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Dharchula said, a lathi charge was allegedly done on some Indian traders on the Nepal side following Sunday’s incident on which the local residents and traders expressed anger and held a protest on Monday. “The matter was taken up to Nepalese authorities who assured to look into the matter,” said Shashni.

He said the bridge was opened only after the chief district officer of Darchula, Nepal, contacted SDM Shashni and promised action against the stone pelters and those responsible for lathi charge on Indian traders.

According to Reena Joshi, district magistrate (DM), Pithoragarh, the matter was taken up with the chief district officer (CDO) of Darchula district (the equivalent of district magistrate in Nepal) on Nepal side, their local mayor and MLA who assured appropriate action in the matter saying such an incident will not happen again.

According to Joshi, the stone-pelting incident from the Nepal side occurred as they fear that the ‘embankment wall’ on the Indian side will push the flow of the Kali River towards Nepal and it could lead to flooding thus possibly endangering the habitation close to river.

The construction work to make an embankment wall on Kali River on the Indian side has not been not proceeding ahead as Nepalese authorities are yet to remove the debris left on both sides after heavy rains in September this year, informed Joshi.

“This heavy deposit of debris is causing impediments in the construction of the embankment wall as debris is pushing water flow in India resulting in a lack of space for the construction”, said the SDM.

“We held the first level talks with Nepalese authorities and tried to assure them that the flow of the river will be kept in control by our engineers while proceeding with the construction of the embankment wall. Soon we will proceed with further talks, and a solution will be found,” she Joshi.

According to local residents, if the embankment construction is not completed before June next year, Dharchula town could face flooding in the next monsoon.