Rautahat. The embankment constructed unilaterally by the Indian side at Gaur of Rautahat and Bairganiya border of India has been upgraded and strengthened under the pretext of maintenance.

Although there is a rule that no physical infrastructure can be built, expanded or altered without the consent of both the countries, the Indian side has made the dam taller and stronger in the pretext of repairing the dam.

There is no provision for a country to build such structures on its borders to prevent inundation or other environmental damage in the territory of a neighboring country. Amit Keshari, a local, said that the dam in Bairganiya area blocks the flow of floods during the rainy season, which has inundated dozens of Nepali villages including the district headquarters Gaur.

Keshari said that the inundation on the Nepali side has started after India built a 15-feet high and five-kilometer-long dam along the border to protect the cities of Bihar, including its land Bairgania, from inundation. He said that Gaur Nagar area has been inundated every year due to the closure of three gates of the dam in the eastern part of Bairgania by the Indian side.

A team of Indian Seema Surakshya Bal (SSB) has been staying at the embankment for 24 hours a day, praying that the Nepalis would breach the embankment and open the Sulis Gate after the inundation of Gaur, said Keshari.

Secretary of Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Rautahat chapter Gautam Shrestha said the water from the Lalbakaiya and Bagmati rivers from the Nepali side does not get an outlet due to the height of the dam and the water backs up into the Nepali settlements.

Shrestha said that the addition of soil to the ring dam in Bairganiya area would stop the flow of floods during the rainy season and it would completely inundate the district headquarters Gaur and surrounding areas. Flood water has been causing huge loss of life and property in Gaur.

A few years ago, the then Chief District Officer (CDO) Kiran Thapa had halted the construction work after the local administration and security agencies objected to the construction of soil in such a manner.

Ajaya Kumar Gupta, former mayor of Gaur Municipality, said that as per the agreement between Nepal and India, construction of high level structures like dams and roads within a certain distance of the border has been prohibited. But under the pretext of repairing the dams that India has built to protect its land from inundation, it has added soil and is also increasing the width, said Gupta.

According to him, India has been inundating Gaur area every year due to the construction of a five-kilometer embankment from the Bagmati River in the east and Banjaraha village across the Bakaiya River in the west.

Gupta, a former mayor of the municipality, said that the Indian side had obstructed the construction of embankment along the Bakaiya River at Mahadevpatti village of Gaur municipality-2 when he was the mayor in 2077 BS.

He said the locals of Gaur have been facing more problems after the closure of the Sulis Gate under the dam constructed by India along the Nepal-India border. According to him, Gaur is getting inundated every year due to the failure to open the dam and Sulis Gate.

Meanwhile, Chief District Officer (CDO) of Rautahat, Dinesh Sagar Bhusal, said that he drew the attention of his Indian counterpart Ruchi Pandey, Chief District Magistrate (DM) of Sitamadhi district, about the construction of soil in the dam. CDO Bhusal said that DM Pandey had informed him that the repair work of the dam was carried out by the central government of India.

The former chief ministers of Madhes Province have been drawing the attention of the government that the central government should seek a permanent solution by sending a diplomatic note as the issue is related to the border between the two countries and international treaties.

Nine wards of Rajdevi Municipality, Belbichuwa, Bramhapuri Laxmipur, Gaur and Bairiya, Auraiya and Banjaraha villages of Ishanath Municipality have been inundated every year after India unilaterally constructed the dam. Millions of rupees have been losing property and crops in the region every year due to inundation.