RAUTAHAT, JULY 6 A joint survey team of Nepal and India gauged the Dasgaja area with a global positioning system which showed that the Indian side had constructed an embankment on 200 metres of encroached land in Dasgaja area. India had built a 10-metre tall embankment at Banjaraha of Ishnath Municipality, Rautahat, 20 years ago. Land on the Nepali side is inundated due to the dam during monsoon every year. Locals had been pleading with the government to demolish the embankment repeatedly. A joint survey team of Nepal and India took measured the land with GPS, and marked the land with iron pipes at 11 places. The survey showed that around 200 metres land was encroached by India. Rajendra Singh, 62, a local, said the embankment built by India unilaterally from the east to west had been inundating Banjaraha village. Singh complained that locals on the Nepal side are affected by inundation for three months during the monsoon every year. Locals say they are forced to bear loss worth millions due to flood and inundation caused by the embankment in Dasgaja area. After relentless efforts from the Nepali side, India’s Anurag Kumar and Nepal’s Umesh Kumar had measured the land and installed pillars at 11 places three days ago. The survey showed that around 200 metres land in Dasgaja was encroached and a dam was constructed by India. Following the decision from the higher authorities, the Indian side has pledged to vacate the land after the rainy season is over. Rautahat CDO Basudev Ghimire said that a joint team of surveyors had demarcated the border in Dsagaja area. The Indian side has admitted its mistake and pledged to remove the embankment but the deadline has not been fixed for the same. Ghimire issued a directive to Nepali security forces to stay connected with the other side and take appropriate steps to vacate the encroached land. A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 7, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.