KATHMANDU, March 23: A lawmaker of the main opposition party, Nepali Congress (NC), Dilendra Prasad Badu has criticized the government for failing to do anything to stop India’s unilateral move to build an embankment along the Mahakali River in Khalanga.
Addressing the meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Tuesday, lawmaker Badu said that around 25 hectares of Nepali land have turned into the riverbank on the Indian side of the border after the watercourse of the River over the years. He argued that the unilateral move of Indian authorities to build an embankment despite objections from local governments along the River is likely to make Nepal lose the territory that has become a river bank on the other side of the new watercourse of the River.
“Nepal government appears oblivious of this. It is in a deep slumber,” he said. “A total of 1043 Ropanis of land was swept away by the flood and a sizeable portion of the land flooded away now falls on the other side of the course of the River water. Some 35 hectares of the land lies on the Indian side of the watercourse,” said Badu.
Lawmaker Badu, who represents the Darchula district, said the government should immediately take diplomatic initiatives to make sure that the Indian side does not put Nepali territory on its side of the border as authorities continue building embankment along the River. Stating that it is mandatory for a country to take consent of another country while building any new infrastructures, Badu said that Indian authorities had not sought any consent from Nepal and that the government appears oblivious of the development despite media raising the issue prominently.