Although the Hilsa border crossing on the Nepal-China border was opened on Baisakh 18 last year, the ban on pilgrims going to see Mansarovar remains. China has closed the Kailash-Mansarovar crossing for almost 5 years after the corona epidemic. Before the corona epidemic, nearly 15 thousand Indian pilgrims used to go on the Mansarovar-Kailash journey through Hilsa every year.

Indian pilgrims do pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar from Baisakh to October. Indian pilgrims started using the Hilsa route since 2006 . After the 2072 earthquake, when the Tatopani crossing was closed, the number of pilgrims going through the Hilsa crossing of Humla increased rapidly.

After the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage was not opened last year, India's 'Trip to Temple' and Kathmandu-based 'Pathil Holidays' arranged Mansarovar-Kailash darshan by mountain flight. But after not being able to bear the expenses and the attraction of tourists, the mountain flight was stopped, said Mahesh Gautam, Managing Director of Pathil Holidays. According to him, about 440 Indian pilgrims visited Kailash-Mansarovar last year through mountain flights of Shree Airlines.

He said that even though Indian pilgrims yearn for Mansarovar darshan, the problem is that the government ignores it. "Daily, Indian pilgrims are calling us asking us to manage the pilgrimage, but there is nothing we can do," he said, "There is a need for coordination between the governments of the three countries." Keshav Neupane, regional director of Siddharth Group of Hospitality, said that the hotels in Nepalgunj were full for some time due to the

mountain flight, but now they are empty. "Nepalgunj is a transit for Indian pilgrims coming for Kailash darshan, due to which the opening of big hotels in Nepalgunj was increasing," he said, "but economic transactions are decreasing due to non-opening of the border, now most of the hotels are empty."

It is necessary to open the Mansarovar-Kailash route immediately for the development of tourism in Karnali, said Vijay Lama, a tourism businessman from Humla. According to him, almost a dozen big investment hotels have been opened in Simkot, the headquarters of Humla, targeting Indian tourists. "When Indian tourists started using the Humla route for Mansarovar darshan, big investment hotels were opened with a bang. For 1/2 year, the tourist traffic and business were fine, but later, due to the corona epidemic, the entire business came to a standstill after China closed the border," he said.

He said that although the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office has been drawn to the attention of the District Administration Office, they are being ignored . According to him, before the Corona epidemic, almost 15 thousand Indian tourists used to visit Mansarovar every year till March 2076.

China-Kailash Mansarovar Pilgrimage was stopped almost 2 years ago, arrangements were made for Kailash darshan from Nepali Bhoomi Namkha Village-6 Lapcha . According to Prem Bahadur Lama, President of Namkha Rural Municipality, about 781 Indian pilgrims and 489 foreign tourists visited Mansarovar-Kailash from Lapcha.

'Indian pilgrims want to go to Mansarovar,' he said, 'so Indian tourists are not willing to watch Doordarshan from Nepali land.'  Shivraj Sharma, head of District Coordination Committee Humla, said that the tourism business of the district has dropped to zero when the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage is not opened.

'China has opened Hilsa border, but Mansarovar has not yet opened,' he said, 'hotels here are deserted, local products have not found a market, tourism businessmen's investment has sunk.' He says that even though the road has been opened, Nepal has not been able to benefit. "Hilsapari is a different world, it's different, infrastructure and development construction has taken leaps and bounds," he said.

According to him, before the Corona epidemic, Indian pilgrims used to take beans, walnuts, apples and other products from Humla as koseli. He says that even the local products are not getting the market due to the non-opening of the border.

Before the Corona epidemic, there are 40 daily flights from Nepalgunj to Simkot by Tara, Sita and Summit Airlines to transport Indian pilgrims. Chief District Officer Narayan Pandey said that it is necessary to open the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage to make the overall tourism of Karnali sustainable. "Now, the road has been connected to Hilsa on the Chinese border, so it has become easy for pilgrims. Before the Corona epidemic, Indian pilgrims used to walk for 10 days to visit Kailash," he said.

Mansarovar is a center of faith for Hindus and Buddhists. Although the Chinese government opens the pilgrimage for the convenience of pilgrims from April to September every year, it has been closed since March 2076 due to the Corona epidemic. Since Baisakh last year, the government had opened the Hilsa border crossing between Nepal and China. There are nearly 35 hotels in Hilsa, including two dozen tourist hotels. Namdel Lama, a hotelier, said that the hotels in Hilsa have been deserted for a long time due to the lack of tourist traffic despite the opening of the border.

'This is the main route to visit Mansarovar Kailash, even though China has opened the border, it has not allowed entry to Mansarovar for Indian visitors,' he said, 'Tourists from other countries have not come, the locals of Humla have not been able to operate hotels as they cannot go to China.' 

According to him, businessmen have invested nearly 1 million to 20 million in the hotels of Hilsa. According to another businessman, Karma Lama, there used to be a lot of movement of tourists and locals at Hilsa Naka before Corona. "Before Corona, tourists, porters and locals used to be busy in the market from early in the morning till 10 at night. We suffered a huge loss when the border was closed due to Corona," he said.

Chief District Officer Pandey said that there is some problem in the movement due to the snow in the surrounding areas of Hilsa. According to him, when there is no snowfall, passenger vehicles used to travel from the headquarters Simkot to Hilsa. Those going to work in the Chinese city of Taklakot are using the Hilsa border crossing. Chief District Officer Pandey said that nearly 7,000 people have made temporary permits to go to Taklakot.