17 minutes agoWriters: Ashish Urmalia
Tanakpur means the border area adjacent to Nepal. Ranger Mahesh Bisht of the Indian Forest Department is posted here. He said on June 23 that the Nepalese have occupied about 12 acres of land in India. Then suddenly they fell silent.
Dainik Bhaskar reached the ground. There the Nepalese have built more than 200 pucca shops, more than 40 temporary huts and about 70 pucca houses. The dividing pillars at the disputed site are also missing. The Nepal government has made arrangements for roads, electricity, water there. The border guard post also remains. We did a thorough investigation into it.
Let’s go there…
One has to cross this bridge of Hydro Electric Power Point on Sharda river and go towards Brahmadev.
brahmadeva, India or Nepal?
Tanakpur in Uttarakhand is on this side of the Sharda river, Brahmadev on the other side. There is a 700 meter long bridge in the middle. A girl is found on the bridge. Sells Prasad. Age 7-8 years. She says, “Brother, take our 10 rupees prasad. The Nepalese have captured the other side. They give prasad for 50 rupees.
Actually, on crossing the bridge, the ancient temple of Siddha Baba is found. There is the matter of possession. Hundreds of devotees from both the countries visit the temple daily. Now this place is in the possession of the people of Nepal.
This is the temple of Siddha Baba present in Brahmadev. There is also a temple of Lord Vishnu and Brahma next to it.
There are shops, huts and houses of Nepalese around this temple built in the forest. Nepalese liquor is being sold in food shops. Nepal’s APF ie Armed Police Force outpost also remains at the starting point of the shops.
India’s SSB i.e. Sashastra Seema Bal’s post remains exactly 100 steps away. The soldiers sitting at both the posts, even after scraping a lot, bluntly say, “Our sab will tell. We do not know anything. There is order, so we are sitting.”
This border guard post of Nepal is present in the disputed place on the border.
The senior officer scolded the ranger, so did not say a word
“Nepal has occupied 12 acres of land in Brahmadev.” This statement was first given in the media by Tanakpur Ranger Mahesh Bisht. We talked to him on the phone. They refused to give us any information. He said, “Brother, I have been scolded by the senior officers for this matter. I can’t say a word. You talk to the top officials.”
Find the senior officer. They travel to different regions. Asked for an opportunity to meet. But, didn’t get it. Whatever happened on the phone, it was here…
DFO said – there was a stir in the government, the minister’s call had come
Divisional Forest Officer Babulal said, “The minister got a call after news of Nepal occupation was published in several media outlets. He reprimanded us. Actually, this possession is not yet. This is before 1995. The dividing pillars do not exist at that place, so the controversy remains.”
These temporary huts have already been built before the border guard post of Nepal.
He further said, “We believe that this is our land and Nepal has already occupied it. There have been many controversies too. We have meetings with Nepal every three months. The survey of India was conducted by the team of Survey of India only three months back. Findings have not come yet.”
He further adds, “The old occupation is not known. But now a large quantity of SSB is deployed on the border. Therefore, Nepal cannot occupy in any way before him.
There are also 2-storey pucca houses with temporary huts and shops.
111 pillars missing from Tanakpur to Lakhimpur Kheri
India and Nepal were divided in the year 1923. The boundary was divided by erecting stones. Now those stones have been given the form of a cemented pillar. In the year 2020, Survey of India officer CHVSS Prasad had said, “People of Nepal break the pillars and occupy the land. From time to time, survey teams of both the countries survey and make pillars again. In 2019, there was an agreement in both the countries regarding the new survey, but then due to Corona this work could not be completed.
He had further said, “Thousands of pillars have been broken from Sikkim to Uttarakhand. Pillars are missing from pillar number 700 of Lakhimpur Kheri to pillar number 811 of Brahmadev.
Such pillars have been built for the India-Nepal border division. But these pillars are not present in the Brahmadev area.
Report sent to the government thrice between 2010 and 2021
According to officials, reports of this encroachment have been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Uttarakhand government three times between 2010 and 2021 from the SSB and the Forest Department. SSB Assistant Commandant Abhinav Tomar said, “This issue was also raised in the meeting held between the officials of India and Nepal last month. After mutual consent, the survey teams of both the countries had talked about the survey of the disputed place. This dispute will be settled only after the survey.