KATHMANDU: The transportation of goods from China through the Rasuwagadhi border has become a major challenge for Nepali truck drivers and co-drivers due to the lack of China entry permits.

Despite no ban on truck containers carrying essential goods, drivers are unable to enter China, leading to significant disruptions in the supply chain.

This situation has also caused a surge in transportation costs, adversely affecting consumers, according to locals.

Moreover, the issue of fake entry permits and alleged financial manipulations further exacerbates the problem.

Over 950 Nepali truck containers are transporting goods from Kerung, China, through the Rasuwagadhi border, situated 128 km from Kathmandu via Galchi, Trishuli.

However, even though the truck containers carrying essential goods were not banned from entering China, the drivers and co-drivers have not received China entry permits, Nepali truck drivers said.

As a result, when drivers reach the 24 km distance from Timure to Kerung, they are unable to proceed, leading to additional expenses of NPR 15,000 to hand over the truck containers to someone else to continue the journey.

This has caused a significant increase in transportation costs, directly impacting consumers.

The situation of entrusting vehicles to unrelated individuals has resulted in several issues, such as stranded vehicles in China, loss of goods, illegal transportation, and difficulties in claiming road accident insurance, leading to losses for businessmen.

According to the agreement of January 14, 2012, residents of districts bordering China were granted entry permits to travel up to 30 kilometers into China.

Rasuwa district residents have been receiving Kerung Entry Permits, with around 13,000 permits issued.

However, there have been concerns about fake documents and financial manipulations for non-Rasuwa residents who obtained around 5,000 admission cards.

Locals suspect that the issue of paying a tip of NPR 15,000 to drivers for obtaining entry permits is a result of collusion between different parties, affecting the distribution of permits.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a procedure in 2076BS, categorizing four types of entry permits: driver entry permit, worker entry permit, businessman entry permit, and one-day entry permit.

However, the Nepali Immigration Department has only distributed the one-day entry permit and the entry permit for locals as stipulated in the procedure.

This has left around 1,900 drivers and co-drivers, along with businessmen in essential services, facing a crisis due to the lack of proper entry permits.

The China entry permit issue at the Rasuwagadhi border has caused significant disruptions to the transportation of goods and negatively impacted businesses and consumers in Nepal.

The distribution of fake permits and alleged financial manipulations further complicate the situation, locals complain.