Rajbiraj, July 28

Tension ran high after the Indian side started building a dam by encroaching on Nepali territory in Dasgaza in Tilathi, Saptari, today.

The locals resorted to protest, stating that the dam construction would submerge a large swathe of Nepali land.

Local youths damaged the embankment, which was being constructed on the banks of the Khando River when Chief District Officer Baldev Gautam and his team of security chiefs reached the site to monitor the dam that was actually being reconstructed.

Six persons from Nepal were injured in a clash between the Nepali and the Indian sides over the dam construction. They are now undergoing treatment at the local zonal hospital.

According to Border Outpost Tilathi Inspector Gyan Bahadur Shrestha, the Indian side had started reconstructing the dam from Saturday after it was damaged by flood.

It is important to note that a large swathe of land in different VDCs in Nepal and houses were being submerged, especially during monsoon, due to the dam constructed around 15 years ago.

The locals of Tilathi, Rampura Malahaniyan, Koiladi Barsain, Launiya and Sakarpura, among other places, who were relieved after the dam was breached have become a scared lot ever since the reconstruction attempts started recently.

They are also said to have chanted slogans against construction of the dam .

On his part, CDO Gautam informed that attempts to settle the problem are on. “I’ve already started efforts for a long-term settlement of the issue and written to the higher authorities,” he said.