September 4: With the festive season just around the corner, Nepal-bound goods have been stranded in the northern border points of Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi. There is high demand for readymade garments during the Dashain festival, which falls in mid-October this year.

According to the Customs Department, the Tatopani transit point is closed since the last two months due to landslides while the Rasuwagadhi border hasn’t come into operation after the workers involved in loading goods there were diagnosed with Covid-19.

Director of the Customs Department, Sishir Ghimire, says that operating the customs points with China was always challenging due to the difficult topography. In addition to this, they are now facing the problems of natural calamity and Covid-19 pandemic.  

Chief of the Rasuwagadhi Customs Office Punya Bikram Khadka sys that they are unable to resume service from the customs point after detection of virus among the workers.

“Other workers are currently placed in quarantine and their swab samples have been collected. It is not possible to reopen the border until we get the report,” said Khadka.

He says that his Chinese counterpart has decided to release the goods only after getting the PCR reports of the drivers, and other staffers involved in unloading goods at the customs points.

More that 30 containers are currently stranded at the customs points. Customs chief Khadka says they are making efforts to reopen the border as soon as possible because a large quantity of goods are imported during this season for the Dashain festival.