Patna: As diplomatic tensions continue between India and Nepal, renovation work on the Lalbakaiya river embankment in Bihar’s East Champaran district, 45 kilometers north-west of district headquarters of Motihari, was stopped by the Nepal authorities on Monday morning.
The Sashtra Seema Bal jawans who were engaged in giving protection to the engineers and workers from Bihar were also heckled and humiliated, according to official reports received from Motihari, the district headquarters of East Champaran.
District Magistrate of East Champaran, Srikant Kapil Ashok talked to his counterpart of Rothut district in Nepal and agreed to stop the work following objections from Nepal. He has sent communications to the Consulte General in Kathmandu, the Bihar government and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The embankment was damaged in 2017 floods following heavy rains in the catchment areas of Nepal. The Bihar government had found about 500 metres of 2.5 long embankment weak and had started work to strengthen it as river Gandak is in spate. The incident took place between pillar no 345/5 to 345/7 on the international borders. India claimed work was on in the ‘no man's land’ area. opposite Balua and Guawari villages in Dacca block of the district.
Julfikar Alam, a resident of Balua village said that if the embankment was not repaired immediately, over a dozen villages would be inundated. Devanand Shah, a resident of Patahi village feared floods in the villages on the lower reaches of the Himalayas due to delay in renovation work on the embankment.
Circle officer of Dacca, Ashok Kumar said the renovations for the embankment were being done on the Indian side. However, authorities from Nepal claimed that it was on their land and they based their claim on the basis of materials supplied by Google Maps. District authorities have sought assistance from the Geological Survey of India for negating Nepal’s claim.
Gandak river dam which has been expanded to six districts in Bihar has 36 gates, out of which 18 are in Nepal. Over a dozen villages, including Ramnagar, Mehandiya, Maksoodpur and Jagdish Tala in Gopalganj have been flooded and cut off from the district headquarters of Gopalganj due to heavy rains in catchment areas of Gandak.
On June 12, Nepal’s Armed Forces had fired at Indian farmers from Sitamarhi district, killing one and injuring two. The Indian farmers had crossed over to Nepal to meet their relatives and one Lagan Rai was detained as he was seen talking to his daughter-in-law who is from Nepal. Rai was released after two days.
