A large contingent of China’s armed border police officers entered Nepal through Tibet for the first time on Sunday to take part in earthquake relief efforts. The operation, approved by the Chinese Government, was launched after a meeting on the Chinese side of the border at the urgent request of Nepal, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
160 armed police officers and 56 units of engineering machinery entered Nepal across the Friendship Bridge that links the two countries. Their first mission is to reopen the road connecting the border pass of Zham and Kathmandu, the report said. The China-Nepal Highway, with a total length of 943 kms, including 829 kms in Tibet, was severely damaged in the earthquake on April 25.
Workers had cleared the Tibetan section of the highway two days ago. General Fu ling of the traffic rescue brigade said a total of 500 police officers together with 180 units of engineering machinery would be organised into three groups and a reserve team to clear the road.
Moreover, about 200 Chinese workers are still stranded at a hydropower project site being built with China's help in central Nepal, eight days after a massive earthquake struck the country. The workers are stuck but safe at the Upper Tamakoshi hydropower project in lamabagar Area in Dolakha district, where reports suggest that more than 90 per cent of houses in rural areas have been destroyed.