Transportation of goods through Birgunj has been disrupted once again due to protests by locals against the pollution caused by dusty cargo. Residents have been complaining about the health and environmental hazards created by the transportation of clinker used in the manufacture of cement through the border point. Birgunj is one of the main trading points on the Nepal-India border.

On Monday, locals in Raxaul on the Indian side of the border halted cargo movement for two hours from 10 am to noon. They called off the protest after Indian authorities assured them that clinker shipments would henceforth be unloaded at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Birgunj instead of the railway station in Raxaul as was being done.

Residents of Raxaul have been saying that the transportation of clinker has created difficulties and congestion besides posing a health hazard due to air pollution. They have warned about completely halting cargo movement if their grievances remain unheard. 

Jharkhand and Odisha in India are two big sources of clinker for Nepal. The raw material is transported from the mines by freight train and unloaded at Raxaul railway station.

The clinker is then transshipped onto trucks for transportation to Nepal. Much dust is thrown into the air when the clinker is unloaded, and clouds of dust envelop Tumeria Tol, Nepali Station and Pareuwa in Raxaul, posing health risks to residents.

Laxman Bahadur Basnet, executive director of the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board, said they were not allowing dusty cargo to be unloaded at the ICD due to its limited capacity. “We have started the process of land acquisition to expand the capacity of the dry port to be able to handle such cargo in the future. Besides, we have also been looking for alternative places nearby to unload the cargo to solve the present problem,” Basnet said.

Nepali and Indian authorities will be meeting in Birgunj on Tuesday to find a temporary alternative to the transportation of clinker and fly ash to Nepal through the Raxaul border point. Basnet said the Nepali team would be presenting the current status of the dry port and the government position on managing alternatives.

Himalayan Terminals, a private company that has been awarded the contract to handle the dry port in Birgunj, blamed government inaction for the present problem.

“Although the bilateral agreement between Nepal and India allows the movement of almost all types of cargo to the ICD by rail, Nepali authorities have not taken the initiative to handle dusty cargo,” said Managing Director RB Rauniyar of Himalayan Terminals. As per Rauniyar, the existing space at the Birgunj Dry Port is large enough for dusty cargo to be unloaded. “Currently, only three railway tracks out of six are in operation. If the government brings the three idle tracks into operation, it will be possible to bring such cargo directly to the ICD,” he said.  Rauniyar added that they had started talks with experts and partner companies like Interstate Multimodal Transport, Container Corporation of India, Transworld Group and Nepal Transit Warehousing Corporation to find ways to resolve the problem.