Himalayan News Service

Bardiya, March 26:

Due to the sanctions imposed by the Maoists, people travelling from Gulariya, the district headquarters of Bardiya, have started going via Indian land to reach other places in the country.It looks like the sanction, frequent bandhs and chakka jams have taken the country 20 years back when Nepalis had to travel through Indian land to reach other parts of western Nepal.The distance between Gulariya and Nepalgunj is just 36 km, but people are compelled to travel 100 km to cover the distance.

A local resident said, "We have this facility because of our proximity to India but people in the hilly regions must be facing great difficulty."Sita Bhandari, who was heading towards Nepalgunj via India, said she had to reach the city at any cost because she had a job interview that she had to face there. Locals are somehow managing to lead a (kind of) normal life because tangas to Murtiha, India, are available. From there they can take either a bus or train. Patients are heading towards Luckhnow and other Indian cities instead of Nepali institutions because of the embargo.

A businessman Sridhar Adhikari said, "The familiar weather and low cost make it comfortable for us to go to India rather than Nepal, especially now."People heading towards Mahendranagar, Dhangadi, and from Nepalgunj to Biratnagar, Birgunj and Kathmandu are also using the Indian land to reach their destination.