Farmers on both sides of Indo-Nepal border want peace
LUCKNOW Increasing tension between India and Nepal owing to boundary dispute has left a group of farmers in Maharajganj district worried as they fear missing out cultivation on their agriculture land located in Karauta area in Rupendhi district of Nepal.
Many farmers own agricultural plots in Rupendhi and other areas on Nepal’s side of border, which is around 20 kilometres from Maharajganj.
Alternately, farmers on the other side of border, who are citizens of Nepal, also own land in Maharajganj and adjoining areas.
The 700 km long international border is sealed since March 25 when the lockdown was announced to fight the Covid pandemic.
“There has been no movement of people from either side of the border since then,” said a farmer. With tension brewing between two nations, the security personnel deployed by both the countries are not permitting people to cross the border, said Jamal Ahmed, resident Batai Diha village.
The relations strained last month after the Nepali government issued a new map showing Indian territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura as its own. “A meeting of farmers was held in Sonpipari village located near Nepal border in Maharajganj under chairmanship of gram pradhan Niyaz Ahmed. The villagers have urged Ahmed to talk to the district administration officers for permission to cross the international border for carrying out cultivation on their agriculture land located in Rupendhi district,” said a villager.
Ahmed have assured the villagers to take up the issue with the authorities even as farmers reminded him that sowing of kharif crop should be completed before the onset of the monsoon.
The situation is no different in nearby villages such as Khairaghat, Batai Diha, Ekdangwa, Khurwa Khurd, Bagahi, Bargadwa, Jamuniha and Chapiya villages.
The farmers, who own land in Nepal, are too desperate to cross the border to conduct business, which has been a usual affair for them in normal times.
“We will suffer losses if the cultivation of paddy is not permitted on our agriculture land located in Nepal,” said Devendra Pandey, a farmer from Bargadwa village.
Their land is also lying barren as they are not able to cross the border to carry out cultivation work, said Pappu Yadav, a resident of Jamuniha village.
Each year during kharif and rabi season, farmers from both side cross the border with tractors, agriculture equipment, fertilizer, seeds and saplings to carry out the agriculture work, he said.
“After the closure of Gaduara sugar mill in Maharajganj last year, the farmers transported sugarcane to Sunwal sugar mill located in Nepal for crushing. With lockdown in place, this year the cane farmers had to transport sugarcane to distant sugar mills located in Hata, Khadda and Sishwa towns in
Maharajganj,” he said.
ADG, Gorakhpur zone, Dawa Sherpa said the district administration and police officers were in contact with farmers as well as officers on Nepal to resolve the issue.
“Meetings of officers of both the countries have been held. A meeting of gram pradhans of the villages located in Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar districts as well as the village heads of Nepal called ‘mukhiyas’ has been also held to discuss the cultivation issue, he said.
In view of the recent developments between the two countries, the superintendents of police of all the districts located on the Nepal border have been directed to intensify patrolling.
The SSB jawans deployed on the border are also maintaining vigil.
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