Laborers on the Indian side of the Indo-Nepal border in the Dharchula area of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district were pelted with stones by villagers from Nepal while building an embankment on the Indian side of the Kali River, which acts as the border between the two countries.
We received information about stone pelting on the Indian side again. We have taken up this issue again with Nepalese authorities and told them to take action against miscreants,” said Divesh Shashni, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Dharchula. “As soon as the stone pelting started, Indian workers fled from the spot to save themselves,” said Rakesh Tiwari, a local resident.
According to Dhan Singh Dhami, the block pramukh, Dharchula, there have been approximately 12 instances of Indian workers being attacked with stone-throwing in the last 50 days. Dhami urged Nepalese citizens to take action against those disrupting the harmonious relationship between the two sides.
India is building a 985 meter embankment on the Kali River on their side of the border to protect the town of Dharchula from monsoon floods. Nepal has already constructed a 5 km long protective wall on their side of the river. A resident of Dharchula, Krishna Garbiyal, stated that no objections were raised while the wall was being built in Nepal, but now there are issues being caused on the Indian side.
On December 4, villagers from the Nepal side had pelted stones on the Indian side in the same area. A day after the incident, the local residents and traders staged a protest against the incident and blocked the border bridge over river Kali. The Uttarakhand police later filed a case against unidentified Nepalese citizens who allegedly hurled stones at the workers on the Indian side engaged in the construction of an embankment on river Kali.
Some villagers in Nepal fear that the construction on the Indian side will redirect the flow of the Kali River towards their side, potentially causing flooding.
