Birgunj, October 7

Vehicular movement at the Birgunj entry point has been halted for the past two weeks owing to the ongoing agitation of the United Democratic Madhesi Front over issues of the constitution and state demarcation in the new federal set-up.

All import and export have been affected after leaders and cadres of Madhes-based parties affiliated to the front staged a sit-in at Miteri Bridge on the Indo-Nepal border. “It is one of the major entry points for petroleum products, food, industrial raw materials, clothes, drugs and vehicles, but now all import and export have been halted owing to the agitation,” said a Birgunj customs agent Muturja Ahmed.

Thousands of agitators are taking part in the sit-in at the Birgunj entry point everyday and it is said that everyday more and more people from Parsa and Bara district are joining the agitation as women carrying brooms from the inner villages joined the sit-in at the bridge today. According to SP Diwesh Lohani of district police office, Parsa, no untoward incident has been reported so far here.

According to sources, 253 bullets of liquefied petroleum gas and 70 petrol tankers have been held up in the bordering Indian territories and are waiting to enter the country.

Life has been terribly affected in the Tarai districts 45 days after the agitation started. Educational institutions, marketplaces, government offices and financial institutions have been shut and transportation has halted. Similarly, hospitals too are on the verge of closure due to lack of medicine.

Amidst this, businesspersons, who have borne the brunt, want this issue resolved for good. “Let it go on for some more days if required, but this time it should be the final battle so that there is no bandh in the future,” said Dharmanath Sah, a businessman of Pangalli, Birgunj.