Money
100t of grant petrol arriving on Saturday
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said that 100 tonnes of petrol gifted by China would be transported from the Kyirong-Rasuwagadhi border to Kathmandu on Saturday.Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said that 100 tonnes of petrol gifted by China would be transported from the Kyirong-Rasuwagadhi border to Kathmandu on Saturday.
Tankers will have a difficult task carrying fuel from Kyirong as the highlands were blanketed under heavy snow on Wednesday. Kyirong, which lies across the northern border in China, is situated at an altitude of 2,700 metres. The state-owned oil monopoly said in a press statement on Thursday that it would be taking delivery of the first consignment of the total 1,000 tonnes of petrol gifted by China on Saturday.
“Chinese tankers will bring the fuel up to the border on Saturday, and it will be transferred to Nepali tankers for transhipment to Kathmandu on the same day,” NOC said.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s consul general in Lhasa, Hari Prasad Bashyal, said that the details of the Nepali tankers and drivers had been dispatched to China. Nepali tankers have to fulfil a number of border formalities to enter Chinese territory. Nepali tankers will travel 28 km across the border where they will be met by Chinese tankers. According to Nagendra Sah, director of NOC, 12-20 tankers will be dispatched to the border point on Friday from its Thankot depot in Kathmandu.
High-level Chinese officials are also expected to arrive in Kyirong on Friday.
The distance from Kathmandu to Kyirong is 174 km. The highway passes through Trishuli, Dhunche, Syapru and Rasuwagadhi. The road is of two lanes from Kathmandu to Galchhi, from where it narrows to one lane.
The Dhunche-Syapru section, which was damaged
by landslides recently, has been cleared, and there are no disturbances now, said Rasuwa Chief District Officer Shiva Ram Gelal.
“These roads have been used for the transportation of fuel, goods and heavy equipment for the construction of a number of ongoing hydropower projects in Rasuwa before the Kyirong-Rasuwagadhi trade route was opened. There are no such problems on the roads. They can bear the stress of heavy cargo,” said Gelal. The cross-border trade route was reopened in December 2014. It has
historical importance as it has been a busy route for commerce between Tibet and Nepal from the Lichchhavi and Malla times.
Moreover, the route is linked with the Chinese government’s railway project. During the fifth Nepal-Tibet Trade Facilitation Committee meeting in Lhasa in September 2014, the Chinese side had agreed in principle to extend the Qinghai-Tibet railway to the Nepal border.