The police have taken extra measures to check black marketing of petrol and diesel by Nepalese vehicle owners, who fill tanks at Indian petrol pumps in the border towns of Tanakpur and Champawat. They are also monitoring the petrol stations closely. The police have instructed the petrol pump owners to keep a record of all Nepalese vehicles. The petrol pumps in border towns have been also instructed to supply only a limited quantity of petrol to Nepalese vehicles and keep the records of supplied fuel, besides the name and number of the vehicles.
Tanakpur sub-divisional magistrate Naresh Durgapal said, “We instructed the pump owners to issue required fuel to Nepalese vehicles from their pumps. We are alert to stop such malpractice.”
Champawat superintendent of police (SP) Dilip Singh Kunwar said that the situation along the Indo-Nepal border in Champawat district is presently normal. The people of both the nations are crossing the border frequently, he added.
A few weeks ago, flow of traffic and trade across the Indo-Nepal border in Champawat district was adversely affected following unrest in neighbouring Nepal over its new Constitution. However, things improved after Ram Bahadur Mehra, a Maoism-inclined leader of one of the students’ groups from Sudurpaschim University based in Kanchanpur district in Nepal, had called off their strike.