The Birgunj Customs Office has stated that customs services will be completely suspended for 36 hours from 6 am on Wednesday to 6 pm on Thursday.
The Birgunj border crossing, the gateway to Nepal from India, will be completely closed for 72 hours from Monday midnight, targeting the upcoming House of Representatives elections. According to DSP Hari Bahadur Basnet, spokesperson of the District Police Office, Parsa, the Nepal-India border will be completely closed from 12 midnight on Monday to 12 midnight on Thursday.
Similarly, the Birgunj Customs Office has stated that the customs service will also be completely closed for 36 hours from 6 am on Wednesday to 6 pm on Thursday. Customs spokesperson Uday Singh Bista said that the two-day suspension of all customs operations will affect revenue collection by about Rs 1.2 billion (average daily revenue collection of Rs 600 million).
In an urgent notice issued by the Birgunj Customs Office, Parsi, it is stated that Nepal-India movement has been suspended during the period as per the decision of the District Security Committee to ensure that the elections are held in a free, fair, fearless and credible environment.
According to the notice, all vehicles other than essential goods such as fuel, medicines, hospital supplies, green vegetables and fruits will be banned from entering Nepal. Similarly, it is mentioned that only limited facilitation will be provided to empty cargo vehicles going from Nepal to India.
The Customs Office has clarified that movement through the Nepal-India border checkpoints under the Passenger Branch Gate at the Old Birgunj Customs Office, ICP and the Dry Port Operations Division at Sirsia will remain completely closed during the border closure.
