Around 150 cargo vehicles, including several fuel tankers, entered Nepal on Wednesday in an apparent Indian step to ease restrictions on Nepal-bound cargo vehicles through a few border points.  

The southern neighbour, which has been imposing undeclared ‘embargo’ on Nepal for the last one week, eased clearance of Nepal-bound goods particularly through Sunauli and Rupaidiha border points. Entry of such vehicles through Raxual, Jogbani and Krishnagar border points has, however, remained restricted, according to the Department of Customs (DoC).

Six oil tankers, two bullets of cooking gas were among the 80 cargo trucks that entered Bhairahawa Customs from 1-5pm on Wednesday. It was the highest number of Nepal-bound cargo vehicles that the Indian customs has cleared since it imposed the blockade. “There has been a marked improvement in clearance of cargo vehicles, but it is still a far cry from what Bhairahawa Customs office used to clear during normal times,” said Sishir Dhungana, director general at the DoC.

The number of cargo vehicles entering Nepal daily from India through this customs point has dropped to about a dozen from about 500 a day before the current standoff.

While clearance of other goods has been eased, Indian security forces are still stringent to clear petroleum tankers and bullets of cooking gas, according to Nepali customs officials. “We have felt that India has eased the clearance of Nepal-bound cargo vehicles,” said Lawanya Kumar Dhakal, chief of Bhairahawa Customs Office. “If the clearance is made in similar way on Thursday too, we can assume that India actually started easing the embargo.”

While India used to allow a few vehicles into Nepali and re-impose restriction in the last few days, not a single the vehicle was allowed to enter the Nepali territory on Tuesday.

But the Indian officials decided to allow the freight trucks into Nepal after a meeting where customs officials from both sides agreed to provide security to such trucks on each other’s territory.

India’s Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) Commandant KS Bankoti said that the two sides agreed to allow trucks to enter Nepal and block those who try to disrupt the movement of vehicles on the road. “We should not allow any elements in between to create bad blood between the two sides,” he added.

Meanwhile, another 50 cargo trucks, including five oil tankers, have entered Jamunaha Customs Office in Nepalgunj through India’s Rupaidiha border point. India’s SSB allowed three oil tankers to enter Nepal at 6pm on Wednesday after two more tankers carrying aviation fuel and 24 trucks had crossed into Nepali territory on Tuesday night. Sri Chandra Shrestha, chief of Nepal Oil Corporation Regional Office in Nepalgunj, said they hastened to clear petroleum tankers from Nepal’s customs office at the earliest after they entered the Nepali territory. According to him, only six tankers of diesel, three tankers of petrol and four tankers of aviation fuel have entered Nepalgunj since India imposed blockade on vital supplies last Thursday. The corporation had been distributing 35 tankers of fuel daily in the mid-western region before the current crisis.

Six trucks including two oil tankers entered into Trinagar Customs Office in Kailali, according to customs officer Man Bahadur BK. Meanwhile, trucks carrying vegetables from India have been denied entry into Nepal by the Mechi Customs Office in Kakarvitta. The office denied customs clearance after the Customs Department directed customs offices not to let rotten vegetables and other inedible foodstuffs into Nepal.

The government has incurred huge loss in revenue due to the ongoing blockade on Nepal-bound goods, according to the DoC. After missing out on revenue collection target Rs 5 billion for the period between mid-August and mid-September, the collection remained just 20 percent during 13 days of the month between mid-September and mid-October against the target until 13th day, it said.

(With inputs from Madhav Dhungana in Bhairahawa, Thakur Singh Tharu in Nepalgunj, Parbat Portel in Kakarvitta and Mohan Budhair in Dhangadhi)