Money
Trade hit as Janakpur Railway chugs to a halt
Cross-border trade with India via Janakpur has come to a complete halt after Janakpur Railway suspended its Janakpur-Jayanagar service.Shyam Sundar Sashi
With the country’s one and only railway out of service, the government’s revenue collection has been badly affected too. The Janakpur Customs Office earned only 21 percent of the targeted revenue. Its income amounted to Rs 1.84 million compared to its target of Rs 8.81 million for the seventh month of the fiscal year (mid-January to mid-February).
“The railway is the only means of transporting cargo here. Since the service is down, it has hit revenue collection hard,” said Jagadish Kumar Purbe, acting chief of the customs office.
Janakpur Railway is the main source of income for the Janakpur Customs Office. As the rail service has been out for more than two weeks, traders and customs officials have started demanding that the government set up an alternative customs office at Jatahi to facilitate imports and exports.
“Business and industry in Janakpur have been having a tough time because of the disruption in the railway service,” said youth entrepreneur Laxmi Prasad Sah. He added that traders were not allowed to import goods from other transit points.
The Janakpur Customs Office has set a target of collecting revenue amounting to Rs 101.4 million in the current fiscal year. Even though the railway service has been irregular, the office succeeded in collecting Rs 43.8 million in the first six months of the fiscal year. However; with the railway service completely dead, the targeted revenue collection appears impossible.
Meanwhile, railway officials said that a railway expansion project is all set to start within a few months. The government will be extending the Jayanagar-Janakpur railway north up to Bardibas with the support of India. In line with this plan, the government has been acquiring land required for the railway track which will be broad gauge.
Hari Prasad Mainali, chief district officer of Janakpur, said that once the railway expansion work starts, it would be necessary to stop the Jayanagar-Janakpur railway service for two to three years. This means that the government will have to establish an alternative customs point for cross-border trade. The railway authorities have not informed the customs office whether it will resume services. Customs officials said that since they had no information about the possible resumption of railway services, they have not been able to write to their higher-ups about customs issues.
Meanwhile, the business community and local people have said that an alternative customs office is the need of the hour. Nirmal Kumar Chaudhary, former president of the Janakpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that they had requested the Indian Consulate General in Birgunj and the Indian Embassy to set up an alternative customs office in India. “We have talked to the higher authorities of the Indian government and Nepal, but there has been no progress regarding the alternative customs office,” he added.
Recently, CDO Mainali told a programme that the government too had corresponded with the Indian government regarding setting up an alternative customs office on the border. “We have proposed in writing at a meeting with the concerned Indian government officials and also informed the higher authorities,” he said.