The Korala customs checkpoint on the northern border of Mustang is becoming deserted again with the onset of winter. Due to the extreme cold, business and commercial activity here is at a standstill.

This has affected everyone from businessmen to customs officials, and the state has also increased uncertainty in the revenue collection expected by the state.

Businessmen who ordered goods from China used to go to Lomanthang in Mustang and stay in hotels. Now the hotels are also closed due to the cold. Businessmen there have reached Pokhara and Kathmandu. They always go to the city from Mangsir to Falgun to escape the cold. The employees of the Mustang Customs Office have also started falling ill due to the cold.

This border crossing is at an altitude of 4,600 meters. Due to the cold, cargo containers have also not been able to cross the border to pick up goods. Now businessmen have 'cancelled' the 'orders' of goods entering through this border crossing for a few months.

China's Liji is 500 meters away from the Korala border crossing, from where the containers enter Nepal with goods. The customs office is in Nechung, which is at an altitude of 3,900 meters. Ramesh Khadka, an officer at the customs office, which is 14 kilometers from Nechung to Korala, said. The temperature here in the morning is minus 12 degrees.

According to him, only 30-40 containers are yet to pass customs inspection, and this work will be completed within a week at the most. He said, "There has been a lot of trouble due to the cold, it will be difficult for goods to come through this checkpoint until Falgun."

He said that hoteliers in Lomanthang have started closing their hotels and moving away. "Businessmen who order goods go there to stay, and hoteliers had opened hotels at the request of businessmen who have yet to pass inspection," he said. "After the hotels are closed, businessmen have problems staying and eating." According to him, the customs office will not close.

Due to the cold here, water does not flow from 10 pm to 10 am, it freezes. It is almost the same until Falgun.

The annual revenue collection target of the Customs Office is Rs. 1.2 million. The Korala checkpoint was opened after the Rasuwa and Tatopani checkpoints were closed. So far, the Mustang Customs Office has collected Rs. 4.41 billion. 5.9 million in revenue, more than the set target. Similarly, 1,761 electric vehicles have also entered through this checkpoint.

After the Rasuwa and Tatopani checkpoints were closed during the festival, the goods that were supposed to come from those checkpoints were entered through Korala. Rasuwa Customs has been closed since Asad 24 due to flood damage. Korala checkpoint has been operational since Bhadra 21.

Rasuwagadhi checkpoint was closed after the flood in the Lhende River washed away the concrete bridge connecting the checkpoint. Prepared goods, apples and other fruits used to be imported through this checkpoint. About 100 containers used to move back and forth daily. Most electric vehicles used to enter through this checkpoint, but now imports are closed.

Tulsi Prasad Bhattarai, Chief Officer of Rasuwa Customs Office, said that it has not been decided when the checkpoint will open. ‘The construction of the bailey bridge connecting the checkpoint has been completed, CCTV cameras are being installed and gates are being constructed,’ he said, ‘but about 20 billion rupees in revenue collection has been lost by Mangsir of the current fiscal year.’

He said that since the checkpoint was not operational in Mangsir, revenue collection will be zero this month as well. ‘More revenue used to be collected during Dashain-Tihar, when the checkpoint was closed. Now is the time to import winter clothes, and revenue used to be collected during this time too,’ he said.

There are also problems on the 16-kilometer road from Syafrubesi to the checkpoint. ‘Currently, the road is in one-way operation, even if the checkpoint is opened, there will be problems due to the narrow road,’ he said, ‘There is a risk of traffic jams when large containers enter.’

He said that there has been no work on the customs yard maintenance after it was washed away by the flood. He said that since the inter-modal transportation is done through the Transport Development Committee, no work has been done despite correspondence.

The customs office has said that no one has paid attention to opening the checkpoint quickly since it has been closed for five months. The office says that the locals have also lost their livelihoods due to the long closure of the checkpoint.

The Rasuwa Customs Office has set a revenue collection target of Rs 40.16 billion in the current fiscal year. Due to the checkpoint being closed, revenue has not been collected since the start of the new fiscal year.

The Tatopani border crossing in Sindhupalchowk has been closed for several times due to landslides and has been operational since October 2, but not enough containers have been able to enter through this border crossing.

China has not been sending many containers from there. Tul Bahadur Pandey, Information Officer at Tatopani Customs Office, Larcha, said that goods have not been arriving properly through the border crossing.

‘Electric vehicles and vehicle parts are being imported two days a week, Sunday and Wednesday,’ he said. ‘Containers carrying ready-made goods and fruits are imported on other days.’

Currently, 20-25 containers are entering Nepal daily. ‘This number is very low,’ he said. ‘Earlier, 30-40 used to come in a day.’

He said that he had received information that fewer containers were being sent because construction work was going on in the area. ‘Now, goods that were stopped during preparations and Dashain are also coming in,’ he said, ‘winter clothes are also coming in.’