After the 2072 earthquake damage, the bridge of Rasuwagadhi customs post, which was built four years ago, was destroyed by floods, and the Nepal-China road connection has been broken. Traffic between the two countries has come to a standstill after the Miteri bridge on the trade route was destroyed by the Lhende River flood on Tuesday. It is not certain when the traffic will operate in the border area.

According to Rasuwa Customs Office, 100 cargo vehicles used to travel between China and Nepal every day. The customs liaison office at Pulner is closed after the flood. Nepal-China border area is deserted. The structure of the customs yard built on the banks of Bhotekoshi river near Nakan has also been destroyed by Tuesday's flood. According to Deputy Subba Chandiraj Gelal of Rasuwa Customs Office, it is estimated that more than 30 freight vehicles that have passed customs inspection at the yard and are in the process of being cleared were swept away by the flood. "We estimate that around 100 electric vehicles that have been checked by customs but are yet to be taken due to lack of drivers have also been swept away by the vehicle." 

According to Nasu Gelal, the cargo vehicles and the electric vehicles brought from China were saved from the flood. 8 big trucks of Sino Hydropower kept in the yard were also swept away by the flood. The yard was under construction. Construction of the yard was started two years ago in an area of ​​about 58 ropani with a subsidy of 2.16 billion rupees from the Chinese government. "The construction of the yard was about 90 percent complete," said Gelal, "a yard was being built to accommodate 400 freight cars." The construction company and workers were all Chinese. 

According to Ashish Gajurel, executive director of Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board, the customs yard was built after studying floods that could occur for 30 years. "In the study done by the Chinese, it was concluded that if the river is raised 13 meters from the surface of the river with RCC walls, the flood will not reach it and the velocity can also be stopped," he said, "No matter how much study is done, the flood of Rasuwagadhi is an example."

After the destruction of the road structure, the locals are running wild in the Syafrubansi-Rasuwagadhi section.   Photo: Angad Dhakal/Kantipur

After the concrete bridge of Rasuwagadhi naka was destroyed by the earthquake 10 years ago, it was temporarily operated by placing a belay bridge on it. After the bridge was reconstructed and put into operation in May 076, traffic became easy. After another Tatopani crossing was completely closed after the 072 earthquake, Rasuwagadhi was preferred by both Nepal and China as an alternative. When India blocked, 12 tankers carrying petroleum products entered from China through the same route. 

What amount of goods were imported from which port? According to Gajurel, the executive director of the

board, Rasuwagadhi is the most convenient among Rasuwagadhi, Tatopani and Korola, the major border crossings for trade with China. Bilateral trade has also been affected after the floods damaged bridges and customs yards. According to local traders, more than three dozen vehicles loaded with goods have stopped on their way to China. Wang Tshiring Tamang, who was importing and exporting ready-made goods, said that the goods brought in for the approaching festival were stuck on the way. Trade between the two countries has been disrupted after the flood washed away the bridge. Cargo vehicles coming from China have been stopped across the road. The border should be operated as soon as possible in coordination with the Chinese government. If China wants, it will not take long to build a bridge.' 

Janardhan Tripathi, a businessman from Kathmandu, said that one of his five vehicles in Timure was swept away by the flood and one was buried in the mud. There was a car that brought clothes from China. Only three vehicles in the Timure market are safe,” he said. He informed that the submerged and buried vehicles have started to be pulled out in the customs yard. Tripathi is in Rasuvagadi since a week. 

According to him, there was no rain on the day of the flood. Nasu Gelal said that when the flood swept away vehicles with goods worth crores of rupees, on the one hand, there was damage to the traders and on the other hand, the government suffered a loss in revenue. According to him, they pay up to Rs 60 lakh in revenue for a cargo vehicle arriving at the yard for customs inspection. The highest revenue collection in the northern border is collected from Rasuwa. 

Rasuwa Customs had set a target of collecting Rs 30 billion revenue in the current financial year. The customs office had collected revenue of 29 billion 86 million till Monday. ``We had to collect 140 million rupees in revenue to meet the target,'' he said. Of that, goods worth 80.91 billion 48 million rupees were imported from Rasuwa customs and 46.89 billion 35 million rupees from Tatopani customs. Nepal has exported goods worth 2.48 billion 1.7 million rupees to China.

Former Commerce Secretary Ravi Shankar Sainju says that although Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani are the main trade routes with China, the road infrastructure is not reliable. "Goods from China arrive in 15 days through Rasuwa and Tatopani crossings, but it takes 45 days to arrive by sea," he said, "but attention has not been paid to make the road infrastructure of those two crossings sustainable and reliable." On the way to Tatopani, the roads are being washed away by landslides in places. The road is narrow.'' According to former secretary Sainju, if Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi crossings are not open, exports will be more affected. He added, 'Because the cost is higher when exporting by sea.'

Gosaikund-2 Ward President Kami Chhiring Tamang said that the government should take initiatives to operate the Rasuwagadhi border crossing and repair the damaged roads. The flood has caused great damage to the physical structure. The central government should work to open the border by repairing the road,' he said, 'We are requesting the union government on behalf of the local level for that.' Landslides have occurred in more than a dozen places on the road from Syafrubansi to Timure. The road has been damaged in many places. A landslide destroyed a road in Lingling. There, the Nepali Army, Armed Police and Nepal Police have been pulling ropes to guide pedestrians across the landslide. After the road a few hundred meters before reaching Timure was taken away by a landslide, one has to walk through the mud. Iron electric poles have fallen everywhere on the road. 

Rasuwa Chief District Officer Arjun Paudel said that electricity and telephone services that were disrupted in Timure have been operational since Thursday afternoon. "A JCB of Langtang Hydropower and a machine of Sino Hydro have been mobilized to quickly repair the damaged road," he said, "The Union Government is taking diplomatic initiatives with China for the reconstruction of the bridge connecting Nepal-China." According to him, the Ministry of Home Affairs has written to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport to ascertain the damage to the road and bridge and to start the reconstruction. Vijay Jaishi, director general of the road department, informed that an engineer has been sent to assess the damage. "There has been damage to 1,200 meters of road in different sections," he said, "even if the track is opened immediately, we will operate the traffic, traffic on the road will be easy before Dasain." 

The 16 km road from Syafrubansi to Rasuwagadhi is still under construction. It is subsidized by the Chinese government. "The contract was signed six years ago, but there was a delay due to Covid," said Director General Jaishi, "The matter of building the road is in the hands of the Chinese government, we are taking initiatives to make it happen quickly." According to him, the meeting chaired by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is also the chairman of the council, decided to coordinate with the Chinese government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to rebuild the Miteri bridge and road washed away by floods. Along with Prime Minister Oli, the Chinese ambassador also went to inspect the flooded area of ​​Rasuwa on Tuesday.

According to Bhatta, the executive director of the authority, after gathering the details of the damage, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has been instructed to arrange the transport operation immediately and temporarily. According to him, the relevant ministries have been instructed to coordinate the management of customs, hydropower projects, immigration, etc. immediately. Executive Director Bhatta said that he has also instructed the relevant agencies to facilitate the process of insuring businessmen's containers, vehicles and other materials. 

General Secretary of Nepal Himalayan Cross Border Commerce Association Ramchandra Parajuli said that there is a need for government vigilance to operate the Rasuwa crossing as soon as possible even if it is temporary. He mentioned that for the time being, there is no option to operate the import business using the Tatopani crossing. Parajuli stressed that the government should give priority to the maintenance of permanent nature on the road towards Tatopani, expansion of customs yard and construction of concrete bridge. It takes a long time to import goods from the southern border through the sea route. Therefore, the shortest route should be given priority to Tatopani and Rasuwa," he said. 

President of Sindhupalchok Industry and Commerce Association Buddharaj Basnet said that until Rasuwa is closed, business pressure will increase in Tatopani, so it should be managed accordingly. As it is close to Dasain, the season of bringing goods from China has started. The government should pay immediate attention to the regular operation of roads and staff management, he said.

Rasuwagadhi is the main point of import of electric vehicles. According to Karan Chaudhary, President of NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal, 55 percent of Chinese electric vehicles enter through Rasuwagadhi and 45 percent through Tatopani. He informed that a letter has been sent to the government agencies of Nepal and China to facilitate the change of customs border for electric vehicles to be imported from Rasuwa. August, October and October are the vehicle trading season. We want the season not to be affected," he said. He said that both China-Nepal sides should insist on opening the trade channel.