Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand): After Indian diplomatic pressure, Nepal deferred a plan to bring in a constitutional amendment to validate a new map that depicted Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territory.
Nepal had last week released a revised political and administrative map of the country laying claim over the strategically key areas of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura.
India reacted angrily to the move saying such 'artificial enlargement' of territorial claims will not be acceptable and asked the neighboring country to refrain from such 'unjustified cartographic assertion'.
Nepal then delayed a discussion in Parliament to amend the Constitution for updating the country's map after Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli decided to seek national consensus on the issue.
Amidst the friction between the two neighbours, ETV Bharat brings you a ground report from the strategically important location in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district.
ETV Bharat's ground report from the border
For the first time since the construction of Lipulekh road, ETV Bharat reached the China border. It had taken the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) 12 years to construct the Lipulekh road up to the China border. Over a dozen BRO personnel and labourers had lost their lives while accomplishing this task. The BRO constructed this road from Ghatiyabgarh to Lipulekh at a cost of about Rs 400 crore.
BRO had to work hard
BRO had prepared two plans for constructing the road up to the China border. According to plan A, the road was drawn from the upper reach of Ghatiyabgarh while plan B consisted of construction of road in the lower region of Lipulekh. It was a tough task for BRO to cut the road from Ghatiyabgarh to Malpa. The road here was made after cutting hard rocks. It took BRO 11 years to construct the 8-km road between Ghatiyabgarh to Malpa because of which it took 12 long years to complete the 74 km road between Ghatiyabgarh and Lipulekh.
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Two bridges over the rivulets at Malpa and Bundi are still to be completed between the road up to the China border. Water level in these two rivulets start rising during the day time because of the melting of glaciers. At present, it takes a lot of trouble to cross these two rivulets.
Journey between Bundi and the inner line at Chiyalekh is tough. There are 12 bends between Bundi and Chiyalekh. The journey involves a climb of 610 metres. Chiyalekh holds great importance from the country's defence point of view. The journey beyond this point is prohibited without a permit. People living beyond this point have been issued identity cards. For others, inner line permit is necessary.
Gunji, an important defence centre
Gunji village comes after crossing Garbyang village beyond Chiyalekh. After Chiyalekh, Gunji is the next main defence centre. Flanked by rivers, defence establishment is always in an active mode in Gunji. The 7th battalion of Indo Tibetan Border Police, the Army and the SSB are deployed here. The ITBP has both men and women soldiers deployed here.
Dispute re-arose after inauguration of Lipulekh road
Both China and Nepal started putting pressure on India after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8. Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepalese territory. It claimed Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh as its own territory. Meanwhile, China started showing signs of aggression on the Ladakh border.
The truth behind Nepal's claims
It is a ten kilometre journey between Gunji and Kalapani. Located at 11,700 feet above the mean sea level, Kalapani has been the oldest disputed territory between India and Nepal. The Nepali Communist Party has been claiming Kalapani since 1990, whereas the fact is that the Indian defence forces have been deployed here since 1955. Moreover, the land of Kalapani has also been registered in the land records of Garbyang village.
Read: Nepal halts water supply at Indo-Nepal border
In the 1960-62 arrangement too, land had been registered in records under the name of Camp Kalapani. The border between Nepal and India was formalised after the 1816 treaty. In the treaty between Nepal King and the British India it has been clearly mentioned that the west side of Kali river will be with British India. However, there is no clarity about the origin of the Kali river in the Sugauli treaty signed two centuries ago, and that has led to the dispute. While India believes Kalapani as the origin of the Kali river, Nepal claims that the Kuttiyangti river originating from Limpiyadhura is the origin of Kali river. The region of Lipulek and Limpiyadhura are registered as forest land of Gunji village in Indian land records.
In Kalapani, the origin of Kali river is the Kali temple. The responsibility of looking after the temple's management lies with the ITBP. It is believed that the Kali river originates from the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The water emanating from a spring here meets the Lipu river of Lipulekh. The Kali river later is known as Sharada and Ghaghra rivers.
The road to Lipulekh strengthens India
India's defence has got a shot in the arm after the completion of the road up to Lipulekh on the Chinese border. A close vigil is being maintained here after the Chinese aggression of 1962. The last post of Indian Army is at Nabhidhang at a height of 15,000 feet. Beyond this, up to Lipulekh, the ITBP and the Indian Army do joint patrolling.
The Nabhidhang area is extremely important from the defence point of view. The tri-junction of India, China and Nepal is four kilometres right of the perennially snow-covered Om Mountain visible from here.
After the construction of the road, while India has emerged stronger strategically, it has also benefited the people living in the border area, who consider Kalapani an integral part of India.
Read: Government documents nullify Nepal's claim on Kalapani and Lipulek
