Prepared goods from China used to come to Nepal through this border. Around 100 containers used to pass through this crossing a day. Apples, which are consumed more during festivals, also used to come to Nepal through this channel. Most of the electric vehicles are imported through this channel, but now the import is stopped.
What you should know
It has been three months since the Rasuwagadhi customs checkpoint was closed. The belay bridge and the road connecting the checkpoint have not yet been built. On June 24, the flood in the Lhende river swept away the bridge connecting the crossing, and the Rasuwagadhi crossing came to a standstill. Before the crossing is put into operation, a Beilibridge should be built on the Lhende river, and the road connecting Rasuwagadhi to Safrubansi should be smooth.
But neither the Belybridge has been built, nor the road has been opened . China is currently building a Beili Bridge on both sides (Nepal-China). If the Belibridge was built by Dasain, there was a possibility that the crossing would be opened before Tihar.
Chief Customs Officer of Rasuwa Customs Office, Tulsi Prasad Bhattarai said that although the work is going on after Dasain, it is difficult to open the checkpoint. "The bridge has not been built, it is understood that the work is being done to hand it over as soon as possible," he said, "but it is taking time, the road to Nepal has not been built either." About a hundred containers used to pass through this crossing a day. Apples, which are consumed more during festivals, also used to come to Nepal through this channel. Most of the electric vehicles are imported through this port, but now the import is stopped. During the festival, auto dealers used to bring in new vehicles with various offers. Now, when this border is blocked, electric vehicles and clothes are coming from Mustang Korla.
Rasuwa Customs Office has set a revenue collection target of 40 billion 16 million rupees in the current financial year. "Until now, the target was to collect 12 billion rupees, but it was not possible because the checkpoint was not opened," said Bhattarai, "Revenue collection has been zero since the beginning of the new financial year." After the checkpoint was closed, the customs staff are now waiting for the office. During the festival, more revenue was collected than before, but this time there is no such atmosphere, he said.
Since then, there has been a problem due to landslides in various sections of the 16 km road from Syafrubansi to Rasuwagadhi naka. The road has been blocked due to frequent landslides. After June 24, this road has not been able to operate properly . Traffic has been affected due to opening and closing. Krishnanath Ojha, Head of the Road Planning Office of Galchi-Trishuli-Meilung-Safrubensi-Rasuwagadhi said that there is a problem in opening the landslide due to the geographical structure.
'Work is being done to operate one-way traffic from Safrubensi to Naka within a few days,' Ojha said, 'There is only landslide and rock in the section from Timure to Rasuwagadhi, it will take at most three days to complete this work.'
After that, he said, one-way traffic will be operated on the entire road section. Rasuwagadhi naka, which used to be crowded with containers and businessmen during the festival, is now deserted . After the bridge is built, the goods will start entering through the border . Keshav Kumar Sharma, Secretary of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, said that Belybridge is in the final stage of construction and will be operational after Tihar.
"Beilibridge is being built, it will be operational after Tihar," he said, "Accordingly, the work of opening the road towards Nepal is also going on." There was a problem in the beginning when the road was being opened from above and Bhotekoshi was digging from below. The road department has informed that traffic has come to a standstill due to landslides in places due to continuous rain. According to the department, two machines have been mobilized to remove the landslide. The department says that if there is no rain, there will be no problem in removing the landslide.
