September 8: Raw material worth millions of rupees have been rotting in the Indian border town of Raxaul due to the ongoing bandh in the Terai.

The materials which were being imported to Nepal through the Indian Railway network have been left out in the open due to lack of space in the the railway’s warehouse in Raxaul. The materials are all wet due to the monsoon rains, said Ashok Kumar Baidya, former president of Birgunj Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. 

Some of the materials such as clinker, cement, food items and salt are wet and have become unusable. More than a dozen cement factories in Nepal import their essential raw materials from India, through Raxaul and Birgunj. Baidya said that on the one hand the materials are becoming unusable, and on the other hand the railway is imposing hefty fines.

Sushil Sharma, spokesperson for Birgunj customs, said that on normal days, the office would pass around 40 trucks of clinkers, but now the number has gone down significantly.

Industrialist Rajesh Kyal said more than 60 percent of the clinker has become unusable, and the quality of the rest has been degraded.
Pradeep Kumar Kedia, president of Birgunj Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said that due to a shortage of raw materials, manufacturing units on the Bara-Parsa corridor have been shut down. He estimated that the due to the bandh industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor alone are incurring losses of Rs 500 million every day.

Although the local administration has escorted vehicles from the border areas, the number of vehicles coming into Nepal from Raxaul has fallen dramatically. While on a normal day, around 800 vehicles would make the crossing, in the last seven days only 1400 vehicles have come to Nepal from Raxaul.