Ram Bahadur Chaudhary, a lorry driver from Nepal, has been left stranded in Rupediya of India for the past five days. He has been living inside the truck and cooks food on kerosene stove every morning and evening on the road. "I do not know when they'll allow me to enter Nepal," said Chaudhary. "We have no choice but to stay here until we get a green signal."
According to Shree Prashad Shrestha, head of Nepalgunj-based Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) Area Office, 60 petroleum trucks were stranded at Rupediya border-point alone. These trucks are loaded with 760 kl of diesel, petrol and aviation fuel; and 360 metric tons of LPG cylinder gas. Most of the trucks are stuck at the border-point since Thursday, Shrestha informed.
"With anti Indian protests intensifying in various areas of Nepal, it's getting more and more dangerous for the trucks to stay in Rupediya," Chaudhary said. Asserting his fears, Shrestha also claimed that Rupediya locals threatened truck drivers to torch the trucks at night. "Despite growing security risks, Nepali drivers and their assistants have no choice but to stay with their trucks," Shrestha informed.
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A long queue of container trucks could be seen in Kebalpur of Nanapara Road on Tuesday. Nepali truck drivers are being directed in a never ending loop from customs to Sima Suraksha Bal (SSB) office for getting clearance to cross the border. "Indian customs officials tell us to get permission from the SSB stating that they cannot issue permit without it. However, when we visit the SSB office, they tell us to bring permit from the customs office," said Jagat Buda Magar, another truck driver stranded in Rupediya. "These two departments have been pointing at each-other and indefinitely delaying permit issuance."
Six of the trucks carrying diesel have been allowed to cross the border after coordination between local administrations of the two countries while the rest have been rejected, informed NOC officials. "Many of our trucks are left stranded in the border-point with high security risks," said Shrestha.
According to officials, SSB has mostly restricted the entry of trucks carrying petroleum products into Nepal. Requesting them for issuing permits has so far been futile as they have been shunning it stating that have not received permission from their higher-ranks, officials claimed. Nepali officials said Indian customs offices are afraid to give customs clearance because SSB have been strictly preventing entry to vehicles.
According to Nepalgunj customs office, the office received a total of 137 container trucks from Thursday. The highest number of vehicles received was on Thursday with the total of 66, followed by Friday with 29 vehicles. The numbers have diminished sharply after Friday. The customs office received 17 vehicles on Sunday and 25 vehicles on Monday, informed Rajendra Hamal, head of Nepalgunj customs office.
Earlier, the customs office used to receive 60-70 container trucks daily and collect around Rs 10 million in revenue. "At present, the office hardly collects around 1 to 1.5 million rupees per day," added Hamal. "The revenue collection has decreased sharply as petroleum container trucks have not been allowed to cross the border."
Area Police Office of Jamunaha informed that Nepali lorry drivers at Rupediya have been frequently visiting the customs office on a daily basis to request the clearance. "Things have not worked out well despite putting in all efforts," said Bishnu Giri, chief of Area Police, Nepalgunj. "SSB is not allowing the trucks to cross the border on their own will without any valid reasons. If this continues, trucks and its drivers in Indian border-points will remain in high risk," he added.
Following the acute shortage fuel in area, Nepalese motorcyclists have been visiting Indian petrol pumps in Rupediya for fuel. A petrol pump operator in Kebalpur said that SSB have issued orders to these petrol pumps to not give fuel to vehicles with Nepali number plates.
