Nepal-Tibet trade hit for lack of road and other facilities

Darchula / Oct 20: Trade with Tibet through the Tinkar transit point has come to a standstill for the past few years for lack of access road and customs office.

In the past, Darchula traders used to directly import goods from Tibet and sell them in the district headquarters of Khalanga. But of late trade with Tibet through this transit point is almost nil.

There is neither road access from the Nepal side to bring goods imported from Tibet nor is there customs office. The customs offices at Tinker and other transit points on the tri-junction of Nepal, India and Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China were withdrawn during the conflict period and have not been reinstated since.

The entire road used for transporting the imported goods from Tibet is blocked and the Nepali traders have not been able to bring goods since the last five or six years, lamented Ganesh Badu, a local trader.

For some years, the Nepali traders transported the imported goods from Tibet using the road in the Indian territory. But this was not sustainable as they had to pay much in customs duty. The Indian traders too have not been able to bring goods from Tibet because of the bad condition of the road due to the ongoing expansion works.

The Sitapul Tinker Chhoti Customs and the customs offices at Dattu and Jauljibi, which were abandoned during the conflict period, have not been restored yet thereby causing a great deal of inconvenience to the traders.

“We are ready to pay revenue to the government. But it seems the government is not interested in it as it is not taking any initiative to reinstate the displaced customs offices at the transit points,” said Mangal Singh Thagunna, president of Darchula Chamber of Commerce and Industry. RSS