Residents of Bajura have blocked the Karnali Corridor, while locals of Humla have raised slogans and demonstrated at the District Administration Office.
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The local youth club of Himali Rural Municipality of Bajura has blocked the Dhulachaur road section under the Karnali Corridor over the border dispute. After the road was closed since Thursday night, buses, trucks and other small vehicles entering and leaving Humla have been stranded on the road.
After the locals of Bajura closed the Karnali Corridor, the residents of Humla have launched an agitation. They had reached the District Administration Office on Friday afternoon shouting slogans.
Humla Chief District Officer Tek Kumar Regmi said that the protesters blocked the road by placing stones in the middle of the road. A clash broke out on Jestha 5 due to a border dispute in the Lampata-Chyachaur border area of both districts. Four people from Bajura were injured in the clash. A complaint has been registered at the District Police Office, Bajura against 23 people from Humla involved in the incident, while a case of body-snatching has also been registered in the district court. The corridor has been blocked saying that the others involved in the incident have not been arrested. Humla DSP Shankar Khadka has informed that a search is underway for those involved in the incident.
There is a dispute between the residents of both districts over the ownership of the Ranisain area. Ranisain is at the foot of the Saipal Himal. Where the border area of 3 districts including Humla, Bajhang and Bajura falls. Similarly, the main road to Ranisain is the Himalayan region of Lampata Bajura, and the border area of Namkha, Simkot and Sarkegad rural municipalities of Humla. In the Lampata area, the residents of Raya and Thali of Kharpunath rural municipality-2 were using pasture and grazing in the area. But the residents of Humla had obstructed it saying that the locals of Bajura were going to establish a police post in Lampata.
The construction of buildings and other structures through the consumer committee with a budget of Rs 4 million from the Sudurpaschim government was underway, but the dispute started after the residents of Humla obstructed it, said Bajura's Assistant Chief District Officer Laxman Pudasaini. According to him, Lampata is about 60 km away from Dhulachau, the center of Himali Rural Municipality. 'It takes 4/5 hours by car from Dhulachau and about 2 days to reach Lampata via the Humla road,' he said. 'Since it is geographically remote, there is no telephone facility, which makes it difficult for us to get information about what is happening there.'
Bajura's Chief District Officer Dorendra Niraula said that the main demand of the residents of Bajura is to arrest the Humla residents involved in the beating. According to him, there were 5 incidents of beating in the area. He informed that initiatives are being taken to resolve the dispute. According to him, a team of 21 armed and 7 Nepal Police personnel have been deployed in the area to prevent further incidents.
Earlier, the locals of Bajura had closed the Karnali Corridor from Jestha 2 to 4, alleging that the residents of Humla had continuously attacked and beaten them. On Jestha 2, an all-party meeting held under the initiative of the District Administration Office reached a six-point agreement with the Himali Youth Club, after which the locals of Bajura had withdrawn their agitation programs for the time being. However, after almost 2 weeks, the dispute between the two districts has flared up again, saying that no action has been taken against those involved in the incident. The Karnali Corridor touches Humla, Bajura and Kalikot.
Shivraj Sharma, the head of the District Coordination Committee, Humla, said that the ownership dispute has increased due to the herbal and tourist importance of the Sanisain area, which has been used by the residents of both districts for a long time based on need. ‘This is an area that has been disputed at various times during the survey and demarcation,’ he said, ‘but recently, a dispute has started due to resources.’
The Ministry of Home Affairs had formed a four-member team under the coordination of Senior Superintendent of Police Bimal Raj Kandel, Bajura Police Chief DSP Shaileshwari Bohara, and Karnali Province Police Office DSP Sugandha Shrestha to investigate the border dispute incident between the two districts.
The team had received a 10-day mandate. Karnali Province Police Chief DIG Jayaraj Sapkota said that the team studied the incident site and met with stakeholders from both districts and submitted a report on the incident to the police headquarters. Similarly, the government has formed another committee under the coordination of Sushil Dangol, Deputy Director General of the Survey Department, to study the technical aspects of the border dispute and submit a report. Humla Chief District Officer Regmi said that the committee has not started its work yet. "The problem will be resolved after the reports of both committees come," he said. "We are trying to open the Karnali Corridor for the immediate future."
