Kathmandu. After the Chinese government closed the Tatopani border point just a few days after the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung road section was blocked due to floods and landslides in Rasuwa, Nepali citizens and vehicles stranded in China have been brought to Nepal via Korala border point of Mustang via Dhongmasen and Lichi border points. <\/p>\n
According to the concerned authorities, the authorities of both the countries are facilitating the entry of Nepali nationals and vehicles brought to Nepal from Kerung via Tibet region of China to Korala after crossing the Dhongmasen and Lichi border points. <\/p>\n
After the movement of passengers at both Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani border points was affected, Korala is now being used as a transit and trade option between Nepal and China. This arrangement has not only facilitated the rescue and movement of Nepalis stranded in China, but has also strengthened the possibility of establishing Korala border point of Mustang as a strategic route for trade, tourism and international movement in the future. <\/p>\n
Korala border point is not a new route. According to local historians, this area was the main trade route between the Bhots and the hills during the Rana period, democracy and Panchayat period. At that time, Tukuche in Mustang was known as a major trade and customs center. <\/p>\n
Tibetan merchants used to carry salt, wool and livestock to Tukuche, while barley, maize, rice, sattu and brass utensils from Nepal were transported to Tibet. This salt-grain trade kept the economic and social life of Mustang dynamic for decades. <\/p>\n
But after 1950-51, with the establishment of Chinese control in Tibet, the old trading system gradually weakened. After that, security sensitivity increased in the border areas and there was a big change in the traditional trading activities. <\/p>\n
From border disputes to transforming trade<\/p>\n
According to historical records, a Nepali security personnel was killed when the Chinese army opened fire on a Nepali border patrol team near Korala on June 28, 1960. <\/p>\n
At that time, the Chinese side had said that the action was taken against the Nepali team as Tibetan rebels. After Nepal’s diplomatic protest, China apologized for the incident and paid a compensation of Rs 50,000. <\/p>\n
Before that, after 2007 B.S., India established military posts in Lomanthang and Jomsom areas, according to local history. With these political and security developments, the old business structure gradually weakened. <\/p>\n
After the decline in business, Thakali merchants, including Sherchan of Tukuche, expanded their business to Kathmandu, various district headquarters and Terai markets. Some ran roadside furnaces, which over time were transformed into Thakali kitchens, hotels, lodges and modern hospitality businesses. <\/p>\n
After reaching the road, the possibility changed<\/p>\n
Although efforts were made to open the Korala border point and expand road access since the Panchayat period, the work could not gain momentum due to lack of infrastructure and political fluctuations. After the people’s movement of 2006\u00f763, the road was expanded in Mustang and vehicles started reaching Upper Mustang. Then the earthquake of 2072 and the blockade on the south increased the importance of the northern routes connecting with China. <\/p>\n
Since then, the government has been allocating budget at various stages for the upgradation and blacktopping of the road up to Korala checkpoint. Even now, the road improvement works are going on in different phases. <\/p>\n
According to Tasi Norbu Gurung, chairperson of Lomanthang Rural Municipality, the people’s representatives of Loghekar Damodar Kunda and Lomanthang Rural Municipality had visited Lhasa and Shigatse of Tibet at their own expense last year. <\/p>\n
He said that if the movement through Korala is further expanded, new opportunities can be created in the tourism, local trade and service sectors of Upper Mustang. Tatopani, Kerung and Korala, all the three border points of Nepal, which connect with China, have their own historical role. However, the closure of Rasuwagadhi after the floods and landslides in Rasuwa, the Tatopani border point was also affected and then Korala started being used as an alternative route has further made its strategic importance more clear. <\/p>\n
This route, which once carried the trade of salt and grain, has now become an alternative gateway to bring back Nepalis stranded in China. This has not only brought relief to the immediate crisis management but has also opened up the possibility of Korala as another reliable route for Nepal-China trade, tourism and international movement in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kathmandu. After the Chinese government closed the Tatopani border point just a few days after the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung road section was blocked due to floods and landslides in Rasuwa, Nepali citizens and vehicles stranded in China have been brought to Nepal via Korala border point of Mustang via Dhongmasen and Lichi border points. According to theContinue reading “Rasuwa-Tatopani border point closed as alternative gateway to China”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":100435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1391],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized-en"],"acf":[],"publishedDateNp":"\u0968\u0967 \u092d\u093e\u0926\u094d\u0930 \u0968\u0966\u096e\u0969, \u0906\u0908\u0924\u0935\u093e\u0930 \u0967\u0969:\u0969\u0968","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100443,"href":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100442\/revisions\/100443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/media\/100435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}