Imports from China have come to a standstill due to the closure of the Tatopani border. Businessmen have resorted to porters to save goods from spoilage.
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It has been 11 days since Arani's highway, which connects Tatopani with China, was completely closed. Landslides have occurred at a place called Kodari on the highway.
But the businessmen have complained that they have not been able to work effectively for prevention. After the closure of the road, the businessmen have started carrying goods imported from China to cross the landslide.
After the containers loaded with goods got stranded in the border area, the porters started carrying the rotting fruits and spices such as apples, garlic, mangoes, grapes and other items to cross the landslide. It has become difficult to import hundreds of goods imported from China, such as ready-made clothes, shoes, bags, roll cloth, machinery tools, etc. into Nepal.
It is difficult to bring goods stored in Miteripul, Khasa and Nelam godowns into Nepal. Even though this kind of difficulty happens every year, the businessmen have been facing harassment because they did not pay attention to arrange the road in winter.
At present, the settlements in the upper part of the Kodari landslide are at risk due to the landslide, so it is not possible to cut the road with dozers.
Importer Rajesh Bhandari, who is also a member of the working committee of Nepal Himalayan Cross Border Commerce Association, said that he spends an additional amount of up to one and a half lakh per container of apples and brings them to a safe place through porters.
He said, 'Last year too, the rains of October 11-12 had to suffer huge losses. This time, there was no other option but the Tatopani crossing. We have hired porters so that fruits like apples and mangoes will not rot. Apple traders say that carrying three containers of Nepali goods with porters costs at least 5 lakhs extra.
"While carrying items such as apples, mangoes, there is a problem of breakage, deterioration due to heat and lack of safety of the goods," Bhandari said. Tatopani is the only channel connected to China since Rasuwa was closed due to floods last June. Businessmen have to bear losses of crores of rupees after the commercial goods brought from different cities of China got stuck on the road.
Chairman of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Buddharaj Basnet, said that the hope of opening the road was lost and complained that the central government body was not sensitive when the trade with China through the only border was stopped for a long time. Basnate, who has been sitting at the landslide site for a week and a half to facilitate the opening of the road, said that the businessmen are worried about the government's neglect of the road that collects crores of revenue every year.
About 19 billion revenue was collected from Tatopani Customs last year. Due to the landslide, it is seen that the revenue collection will be greatly affected in the current year. According to Tatopani Customs Officer Surya Kafle, it is estimated that 40 to 42 percent revenue will be collected in July compared to the target.
On the Kodari section road, since last May, after the landslide was temporarily removed, the road was being opened and closed again after the landslide. With the help of local businessmen, the commercial containers were brought into the customs hands once a day by using the road department's dozer.
About 6.5 km from the dry port at Larcha, the road has been blocked towards the border. The road connecting the Bahrbise-Tatopani section of the Araniko highway is at risk of landslides everywhere. Adding the Kodari landslide to it, the problem has become worse.
Basnet said that the road cannot be opened in the normal way because the Kodari landslide continues to flow even if there is no rain and Bhotekoshi continues to cut from the lower part. MP Madhav Sapkota, who represents the same area, drew the attention of the government in the House of Representatives meeting on Tuesday saying that there is no condition to operate the road due to normal maintenance.
He added that the government has set a revenue target of 24 billion from Tatopani Customs for the current year and said that the government's interest has decreased when the border is closed. He said, 'It has been 11 days since Arani's highway was closed. It did not work in the normal way on the road. 700 cargo containers are stranded on the road.
According to businessmen, more than 60 containers carrying fruits are stranded on the road. After the flood of last June, Rasuwa was completely closed, a large part of the business has moved to Tatopani. Kanter stuck in Rasuwa also came to Tatopani via Nelam in Tibet. Some businessmen have started importing goods from the Calcutta port through the southern channel saying that the hot water is not reliable.
But traders say that it will be difficult to sell Dashain goods as it takes 40 to 45 days to bring them by sea. Ramhari Karki, President of Nepal Himalayan Border, said that he has written a request to the Minister of Finance, Minister of Transport and Physical Infrastructure to reopen the road.
He said that he informed all about the problems faced by the businessmen when the road was blocked. Saying that the northern border is becoming unsafe every year, President Karki said that he demanded to allocate sufficient budget for the road connecting the only place of traffic connected to the huge neighboring country China.
After Rasuwa customs was completely closed, he lamented that the government officials were not serious about organizing the Tatopani road, which is the only channel of land trade with China. The road department source has informed that a team of experts from the center will immediately go to the landslide site and take necessary measures. It is seen that the road will not be built normally.
As there is a possibility that the goods such as apples, mangoes, garlic, grapes etc. from China will rot after the transportation is stopped, some businessmen have unloaded the containers from Khasa to the auction in Tibet and unloaded them in the cold store. Hundreds of containers worth crores worth of commercial goods such as ready-made clothes, shoes, bags etc. have been stranded in the border area.
As goods can be brought to Nepal from different cities of China in 15 days through Tatopani border, traders choose here instead of the sea route. But businessperson Nirp Adhikari says that trust in the border is decreasing because it is being closed from time to time. He said that despite the fact that Tatopani is a nearby and easy port, there is no guarantee that the ordered goods will arrive in Kathmandu, so some businessmen bring them from Kolkata port. As the Rasuwa is closed, the pilgrims who visit Mansarobar have not stopped. Now more pilgrims are coming than going.
