RAJBIRAJ, JANUARY 6
Koshi victims have asked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to take the initiative to help them get the long overdue compensation from India.
The victims, who have been asking each new government to facilitate payment of compensation, which hasn't happened for decades now, renewed their call for compensation, to PM Deuba this time, at a press conference in Rajbiraj today.
Today itself, a delegation of victims visited the Office of the Prime Minister and submitted a nine-point memorandum.
"We're the third generation of victims that India pledged compensation to, but hasn't paid for decades now, which is sad," said Mahidev Prasad Chaudhary, coordinator of Koshi River Encroachment, Inundation Victims Struggle Committee, Sunsari, Udayapur and Saptari, at the press conference in Rajbiraj today.
There had been an agreement between India and Nepal 67 years ago, as per which India would provide compensation to Koshi victims.
The agreement was inked in the presence of late king Mahendra Shah and India's then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
"India hasn't provided compensation that it owed us over damages we suffered due to inundation caused in a huge swathe from Udayapur to Saptari because of the construction of the Koshi Barrage then On top of it, we're subjected to additional suffering every year as India shuts the sluice gates on the barrage during the rainy season causing inundation in our fields and takes all the water for itself, leaving our crops to die during winter," he added.
Further, Chaudhary blamed the Nepal government for India's reluctance to pay the compensation.
"It's because of the weakness on the part of our government that neither my father nor me got the compensation.
There aren't any signs my children will get it," he said.
Besides monetary compensation, the victims are entitled to jobs at the Koshi River-related plans and other infrastructure-related developments in their areas as per the agreement.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 7, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
