Repair work of the boundary pillars along the Nepal-India border has simultaneously begun in Kailali and Kanchanpur—two Tarai districts of Sudurpaschim Province.

The Armed Police Force (APF), which is the authorised border security force in Nepal, and its Indian counterpart Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) started repairing the derelict border pillars on Monday. They started the repair works of border pillar No 753 at Dokebazaar in ward 11 of Punarbas Municipality in Kanchanpur and pillar No 759/1 at Bangrakatan in ward 9 of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City in Kailali district.

As per the decision of the Nepal-India joint border monitoring team in 2014, the APF is responsible for repairing odd-numbered border pillars while the SSB is responsible for repairing even-numbered pillars.

The border pillar repair work was initiated by organising a function at Dokebazaar. Security officers and people’s representatives from both Nepal and India were present at the function. “The repair of the border pillars helps in protecting the no-man’s-land. Security personnel as well as the citizens of both countries are responsible for keeping the border line intact,” said Deputy Inspector General of the APF Kumar Neupane. According to him, the APF was authorised to repair border pillars on the Nepal side as per the decision of the federal Cabinet on August 3, 2020.

There are a total of 66 odd-numbered border pillars and 13 even-numbered border pillars in Kanchanpur which were constructed after 2014. The APF of Nepal is repairing the 66 odd-numbered border pillars in Kanchanpur. The Indian side has already repaired the 13 even-numbered border pillars. “We plan to complete the repair work in 20 days,” said Neupane.

However, the two countries repaired the border pillars constructed after 2014 only and the repair work of other boundary pillars constructed before 2014 is yet to be initiated due to border disputes.

Nepal and India share a 129.5-km-long border in Kanchanpur district. According to the information provided by the authorities, there are a total of 390 main, subsidiary and minor border pillars in Kanchanpur. Among them, 32 pillars went missing while 41 pillars were damaged by the floods. Many other border pillars are in a dilapidated condition.

Due to the border disputes caused by the absence of border pillars, the local people claim that India’s SSB frequently interferes with construction activities including road construction on the Nepali side. They even create disturbances in tree plantation programmes in the community forests on the Nepali side of the border. There are border disputes in Pyaratal to Aanandabazaar of Punarbas, Pachui and Bhuda areas of Belauri Municipality, Jhimlima of Beldadi Rural Municipality, Kutiyakbhar to Baduwatol of Dodhara Chandani Municipality and Bramhadev area of Bhumdutta Municipality in Kanchanpur. The construction of the Postal Highway has been halted for months in Pachui due to disputes.

“The repair work of the border pillars is being conducted in the presence of the border security forces of both countries. The border pillars will be repaired and repainted,” said APF Superintendent Prem Singh Rawal.

Nepal and India share over 1800 km-long open border.