Demolition of dams on border demanded in Nepal

The dams unilaterally built by India along the Indo-Nepal border are said to have submerged many houses and huge tracts of arable land in Nepal.

Kathmandu, July 23 : The dams unilaterally built by India along the Indo-Nepal border are said to have submerged many houses and huge tracts of arable land in Nepal.

Nepal parliamentarians have demanded that 'physical infrastructures' built along the India-Nepal border should be abolished. The reason given is that these dams have flooded vast areas in Nepal.

Lawmakers told the Interim Parliament about the importance of maintaining the natural flow of the river water in the southern border areas.

They said the Mahalisagar in Kapilvastu District and Laxmanpur barrage in Banke District, besides other dams which India unilaterally built along the border has left many houses and huge tracts of arable land inundated.

They have demanded that the government make necessary arrangements for the rehabilitation of the affected people.

"The government should take initiative to demolish the dams built unilaterally in the border areas in contravention of the international norms," lawmaker Sunil Prajapati was quoted by Nepalnews as saying.

Parliamentarian Purna Kumari Subedi demanded that Indian dams that inundated Nepalese territory and caused misery to thousands of people should be demolished.

"The victims of last years floods and inundation are yet to get proper compensation," she was quoted as saying.

Khurdalotan barrage in Rupandehi District, Bagmati Check dam in Rautahat, Bajaha Sagar and Siswa Sagar barrage in Kapilvastu are some other instances of dams near Indo-Nepal border that have inundated areas in Nepal.

Construction of a dam at Kunauli area of India that borders Nepal's Saptari district is feared to inundate at least 10 Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Nepal's Saptari district.

It is said that all these dams were constructed without seeking consent from Nepal.

It is also alleged that India has encroached over 60,000 hectares of Nepali land around five dozen border points.

Meanwhile, incessant rains have caused havoc in parts of Nepal, including Parsa, Mahottari, Banke, Bara, Rauthat and other districts, as hundreds of houses and huge tracts of lands have been submerged by floods.

More than 100 houses in Nagawa, Inaruwa, Ranighat, Radhemai, Bara and Chhapakiya district have been inundated.

ANI