Status and Perspectives on ‘Kalapani’: ‘Three Villages Are in India, What About the Limbiyadhura Story?’
Image source, vyansmun.gov.np
In Kathmandu, the issue of Kalapani has become highly controversial with extensive debates. However, the local residents of Kalapani, located within Ward No. 1 of Vyans Rural Municipality in Darchula, remain skeptical about such debates.
Following its unanimous approval in parliament, Limbiyadhura has also been marked on Nepal’s official map.
According to Vinod Singh Kunwar, Vice Chairman of the rural municipality, the local government uses this official map and has not produced a separate map for its area.
“Three villages in our Ward No. 1 — Kuti, Navi, and Gunji — are still within India,” Vice Chairman Kunwar notes referring to the map. “However, Chhangru and Tinker villages are in Nepal.”
Residents of these two villages migrate to the administrative center in Khalanga for six months starting in the winter season. The only option they have to travel to the headquarters is via Indian territory.
Vice Chairman Kunwar appealed to the new government, “Motor roads should be constructed at least to the two remaining villages in Ward No. 1 from within Nepal.”
He stated that if sufficient annual budget is allocated for the Tinker road under the Mahakali Corridor project currently being developed by the Nepal Army, road access to Tinker could be established in two to three years.
“Only then will issues surrounding border crossings and frontiers hold significance for us,” he said. “Without enabling our own people to travel within their own land, discussion about Lipulekh and Limbiyadhura is far-fetched.”
‘The British Said, Don’t Argue’
The government has reasserted that Limbiyadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani, areas east of the Mahakali River, are integral parts of Nepal, in accordance with the 1816 Sugauli Treaty.
Two river streams flow into the Mahakali River from Limbiyadhura and Lipulekh. Nepal claims the river originating from Limbiyadhura as the main course of the Mahakali.
However, maps published by India after 1860 reportedly mark the river from Limbiyadhura as ‘Kuti’ or ‘Kutiyangdi’ and the river from Lipulekh as ‘Kali,’ which some Nepali border experts and historians have publicly debated.
According to Punya Prasad Oli, former Director General of Survey Department, “During the Sugauli Treaty negotiations, the East India Company proposed defining the border along the river originating from Lipulekh, considering it the Mahakali’s main stream.”
“However, the Nepali side did not accept this, and the British reportedly advised not to argue too much, as these three villages belonged to Nepal. The Indian government even sent a letter to Uttar Pradesh asking what to do if Nepal did not ratify the treaty,” Oli revealed.
Bhanadev Badu, who served as a constable at the northern border administration office in Chhangru, Vyans in 1980 BS (circa 1923 CE), still recalls his experiences related to the border area.
During his three years of service, he and his colleagues regularly filed reports on encroachments in the Kalapani area while noting no impact beyond the border.
“We always mentioned in every report that the area near Kalapani, claimed by India, was not the river’s source,” he stated.
Nepali Security Forces Positioned Far from the Border
Image source, BinodSinghKunwar
Indian security forces maintain a camp near Kalapani, close to Chhangru. In areas that fall within Nepalese territory, Indian forces reportedly behave as if controlling the area, and visitors have occasionally voiced complaints.
There have been past reports of Indian security personnel entering Nepalese land, exerting control, mistreating, or turning back those traveling to India.
Former Chief District Officer of Darchula, Bed Prakash Lekhak, shared his unpleasant experience during a Kalapani border inspection in 2001 BS (circa 1944 CE).
Despite having prior permission, their delegation was surrounded and obstructed for lack of prior notice, he said.
“There were 6-7 of us; all had to raise their hands. Except for me, everyone was searched. I and the border administration officer were allowed to approach near the Mahakali temple but were not permitted to take photographs. After that, we returned,” he recounted.
Vice Chairman Vinod Singh Kunwar of Vyans Rural Municipality said there is trouble when attempting to access areas under Indian control without notifying Indian officials.
“Even when informed, and bringing snacks or fruits ourselves, Indian forces come over into Nepal and meet us,” he explained. “There is also a consideration to establish an Armed Police border security post at Kawas; that would bring us closer to Kalapani.”
‘A Bag Caught in the Throat’
“If India considered the river flowing from Lipulekh as the border river, Indian military forces wouldn’t be allowed to station in Kalapani,” Vice Chairman Kunwar said. “Since that is not the case, the issue of Limbiyadhura remains distant.”
He relates a local proverb from the same region to Kalapani and Limbiyadhura, which says, ‘If a bag sticks in the throat, a piece is bound to get stuck.’
“Still, it’s not a reason to despair. Efforts must begin, but an immediate solution does not seem forthcoming — rather, this issue could become even more complicated,” he added.
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