Flood sweeps away tree used to mark Nepal-India border in Susta

Floodwaters have swept away a silk cotton tree that residents in Susta had long treated as a marker of the Nepal-India border.

The tree stood in Tharu Tole, across the Narayani River in Susta Rural Municipality-5 of West Nawalparasi. Local residents said the river entered the area from the same location after work on a 132-metre embankment was halted for two months following objections from India’s Sashastra Seema Bal.

Adam Khan, chair of the Susta Bachau Abhiyan and a ward member, said Wednesday night’s flood carried away the tree. Nepalese and Indian district-level security officials and local residents had agreed to recognise it as a de facto border marker in 2008.

With the tree gone, residents are calling for a permanent border pillar. Rural municipality chair Tek Narayan Upadhyay said the lack of a permanent marker had repeatedly led to disputes with India. “Because there is no permanent border pillar, the Indian side has repeatedly encroached on Nepali territory and created disputes,” he said.

Flooding two days earlier also entered Tharu Tole and damaged sugarcane planted across around 20 bighas. The area is home to 1,457 people from 220 households and has long been affected by a border dispute. Upadhyay said India gained an advantage in the dispute after Prime Minister Balen Shah told Parliament that Nepal had encroached on Indian territory at several points along the border.

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Because there is no permanent border pillar, the Indian side has repeatedly encroached on Nepali territory and created disputes