Kathmandu. Vehicles with Indian number plates have been banned from entering Thori of Parsa district. The Indian Seema Surakshya Bal (SSB) has sent back the four-wheelers coming from India at the request of Nepali security personnel.
Thori is a new destination that is being established as a major tourist destination of Madhes province. Dozens of hotels and resorts have been opened here targeting Indian tourists and hundreds of people have got employment at the local level.
However, the hotel business in Thori has come to a standstill after the Indian tourists were suddenly banned from entering the customs due to lack of customs process. This has severely affected tourism, trade and local life.
More than two hundred tourists visit Thori every day by private Indian vehicles. However, the disruption in Indian vehicular movement since last Friday has brought the tourism activities here to a standstill.
A notice regarding the ban on the entry of vehicles coming without customs has been pasted at the SSB camp at Bhikhana Thori on the Indian side.
According to a police official of the Armed Police Force (APF) at Thori, the Indian vehicles have been banned from entering Thori as per the ‘order from above’.
“This is the order from above, we have to follow the order,” the APF officer said.
When asked about the ‘order’ issued by Chief District Officer of Parsa district, Bhola Dahal, he said that the provisions of the law have been implemented as the government has banned the entry of foreign vehicles into Nepal without customs.
“We have been told to follow the law, the law is the order, we can come here by following the law by cutting the customs duty as per the rules.
Stating that the government has made a provision to pay customs entry fee online in recent period, he said that the vehicles coming through the customs would not be stopped.
“Now there is a system of paying the fees online, one can pay the fees online and pay the amount to the banks.
Chhatendra Acharya, a local hotel and tourism entrepreneur, said that the obstruction in the movement of Indian tourists to and from Thori border point has created a situation of collapse in the tourism sector.
“There is a small customs duty in Thori, there are no employees, it is the government’s job to keep employees and manage the checkpoint. What message does it send to stop tourists coming to Nepal?” he asked.
The construction of the building of the Amrit Small Customs Office of the Government of Nepal in Thori has been completed. The building has been lying unused since last year as the government has not been able to operate the service by managing the staff. The legal entry of Indian vehicles has come to a standstill since the closure of the customs office last year.
Another hotel and tourism entrepreneur of Thori, Dhir Singh Ghimire, said that it was unfair to create more obstacles instead of protecting the emerging tourist destination.
“More than two hundred vehicles have been stranded on the daily side of the country and it is unfair to create further obstacles instead of protecting the emerging tourist destination,” said Ghimire.
For years, Thori border point has been known as an easy entry point for Indian tourists. Indian tourists have been making the local hotels, restaurants, shops and transportation business vibrant by observing the natural beauty, religious sites, wildlife, rural tourism and different tourist destinations in Thori.
Sudip Thapa, president of the Tourism Committee Thori, said that the government should strengthen its infrastructure and ensure the well-managed movement of Indian vehicles instead of obstructing the border points.
“There is a small customs office in Thori, it is the responsibility of the government to operate the service in the existing structure, it is unfortunate that this should not happen and tourists should not be obstructed in any pretext,” Thapa said.
Locals complain that no concrete initiative has been taken to reopen the customs office despite the attention of the local government, political parties, industrialists, tourism entrepreneurs and civil society time and again.
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